A Gentle Touch
by CeeCee-chi
Summary: Mother Nature has been around for a very long time. She makes the flowers grow and awakens the world from it's winter slumber each spring. She isn't Guardian material, she's been tainted by isolation and too many years of life; her light is almost gone and the shadows are closing in. Can anyone save her, show her that she isn't as tarnished as she thinks?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I have somehow become very obsessed with the Rise of the Guardians. This is probably a very bad thing, seeing as it is actually messing with my school work. Shouldn't let my grades fall for a fandom, ya know? Not that it's stopping me much. I should be writing an eight page paper right now, but somehow I just couldn't knock out this story idea. How pitiful of me. And I don't own anything but Effie.**

* * *

_Chapter One_

The little rabbit twitched its nose as it looked up at the little girl. The girl stared wide-eyed at the little creature, a bright grin breaking across her face. Efthalia grinned, watching the child with warm eyes. She kept the rabbit calm as the girl drew closer. The girl reached out to pet the bunny, giggling as it let her touch it.

"Oh, you're such a good rabbit," Effie cooed, "You just made this little girl's day!"

The rabbit hopped a little closer to the little girl's hand, seemingly pleased with the gentle touch. The girl smiled happily, running her small hands through the rabbit's fur. "You're a soft bunny!"

Effie tilted her head to the side, enjoying the girl's natural curiosity.

"You like this little girl, don't you? She certainly likes you," the young woman laughed from her seated position next to the rabbit.

The girl was suddenly ripped away from the rabbit, catching Effie off guard. The rabbit ran away, startled and Effie frowned, watching it escape to the tree line at the edge of the park. She turned her head back to the little girl, noting that, like so many times in the past, it had been the parent to take away the child. The girl's mother began scolding her for touching such a "filthy creature."

"But mommy, it liked me! It was letting me pet it!" The girl exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"You don't know where that thing has been! It could have had worms or rabies! What if it had bitten you?" The older woman scolded.

Effie scoffed, running her hand through her mess of red hair. Like she would have let the bunny hurt the little girl. The rabbit had liked the little girl too much to hurt her anyway. No one gave her or the animals any credit anymore.

"But mommy!" the girl was now crying. It hurt the red-head to see the little girl so upset.

"Enough, Kai! We are going home now. We have to wash your hands before you catch something."

That was the last straw. The red-head had heard about enough, standing as she glared at the woman.

"Catch something, really? Because nature is just so disgusting that your daughter is going to die if she touches it. I resent that, you know! I take good care of my animals! YOU STUPID HUMANS ARE THE ONES WHO MAKES THEM DISGUSTING WITH YOUR DAMN OIL SPILLS AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HABITATS!" She shouted.

Her voice went unheard, though, as the woman dragged her daughter away. She growled out her frustration, her emotion making the wind pick up slightly. She was so sick and tired of being ignored. She used to have believers, used to be worshiped as a goddess! And then they started to ignore her as they slaughtered her animals and cut down her trees. She was nothing now.

Effie pushed herself up, angrily kicking a rock and regretting it an instant later. One would think she would have learned by now that kicking a rock while barefoot hurt. She hopped a little, caressing her poor toes before dejectedly walking towards the bushes surrounding a fountain at the center of the park. Just because no one saw her anymore didn't mean that she could slack on her responsibilities.

Spring was in the air, and as such she was here to wake the plants and animals from their winter slumber. What was left of the snow melted as she walked by it; she smiled slightly as she saw the grass begin to come back to life. Lush, green grass was always the most enjoyable to walk through. She touched the bushes, immediately seeing the buds begin to form on the branches. Looking around she could see everything slowly begin to come back to life before her eyes.

No one might believe in her anymore, but it was still a great feeling to give life back to the Earth each Spring.

* * *

The guardians sat around a table in silence, complete and utter silence. Bunnymund's ear twitched in annoyance as the silence continued. He had more important things to do. Easter was in a week and he had to finish preparing; if North didn't say something soon, he was going to blow a fuse!

"Big Guy, are you gonna tell us why we're here?" Jack asked, clearly annoyed as well.

Nice to see Bunny wasn't the only one annoyed with being called to the Pole to sit around a table and do nothing.

North broke out of his trance, heaving a heavy sigh. He wasn't really quite sure himself. The Man in Moon had given him very vague information.

"Ve need to gather new guardian…" The Russian man started.

A question mark formed over Sandy's head, the rest of the guardians looking just as confused.

"Why?" asked Tooth, "Is there danger coming?" Her little fairies made little squeaking noises around her; the concept obviously alarmed them.

North shook his head, his attention on his clasped hands. "The Man in Moon just simply told me zat ve need new guardian. He did not share vhy. I've looked and I haven't noticed anything on the globe threatening harm, but he did say he wanted us to be prepared."

"Prepared for what, Mate? If there's no trouble coming, what's the point? We perfectly defeated Pitch on our own; we can take on anything and anyone. We don't need another whiny brat like Frost Bite over here getting in the way." Bunnymund said, motioning to their newest member.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the giant rabbit. "Wanna run that by me again?"

"You heard me, Snow Boy." Bunny replied, narrowing his own eyes.

"Hush!" North quickly interfered before the two Guardians went for each other's throats. He turned to Bunny, answering his question, "Man in Moon did not give clear explanation. He just made clear zat he chose new guardian for us."

A series of signs scurried over Sandy's head. North nodded in response.

"Yes, Sandy, he did say who he vanted us to get."

The guardians all leaned forward expectantly, eager to know who the newbie was going to be. Tooth was the first to speak.

"Who is it?" Tooth asked.

"Efthalia." North answered.

Bunnymund's eyes softened. The girl was a good choice; it would be good for her too, to be around more people. He could tell through their short chats each Spring that she was getting lonely. He had thought she would have been the better choice when they had gained Jack, anyway. Hell, he'd thought the Groundhog was a better choice than Frost.

"Who's Efthalia?" Jack's voice broke through the silence that had settled over them briefly.

The Rabbit gave the winter spirit a disbelieving look.

"What?"

"300 years and you still don't know Mother Nature's name? You certainly mess with her seasons often enough, it's shocking you don't know her name!" Bunny exclaimed.

"Wait, what? Mother Nature? You're joking, right? That bitter, no fun woman?" Jack spat out, spinning his staff in his hand.

The Easter Bunny glared at the teen and his insolent remark. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you, Frost Bite. That's a fine lady you're insulting there."

The young guardian laughed, "Fine lady! That's a good one. She's bitter and rude and old as dirt!"

The rest of the guardians shifted uncomfortably in their spots, looking from Bunny to Jack. Tooth had opened her mouth to end their fighting, but the Rabbit had given her a look telling her to not even think about it. The said Pooka grit his teeth angrily at the spirit before him.

"Eternally 19 is hardly old, bub. She's only rude to you because you ruin one of her seasons once every ten years!"

"Well, she needs to chill every once in a while," Jack said, smirking at his own pun, "She's way too uptight about everything."

Bunny was getting really fed up with the teen spirit's ignorance. "Ya damage the ecosystem every time ya make it snow out of season, making the lass's job all the more difficult! How would you feel if she crashed one of your winters and melted all the snow, ya snivelin' brat?"

"Excuse me, Cotton Tail? It's not my fault she's such a bit–"

"I don't remember you being so pleasant yourself, icicle! Ya might want to think about how she's been just alone as you for the past 400 years!"

Jack shut his mouth at that. He hadn't been aware of this little detail. Every time they had run into each other in the past, she had always been cranky. They never got along when they came face to face, always throwing an insult or two before parting ways again. He had been so absorbed in his own problems at the time, thinking that everyone else had someone believing in them while he didn't. It had never occurred to him that she was just as lonely as he was. He was starting to regret how he made it snow in August the year before. That must have really pissed her off.

North cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him. "Since she is closest to you, Bunny, you will be ze one in charge of retrieving her. You can take ze Yetis—"

Bunnymund raised a hand, stopping the old man in mid-sentence. "Mate, the yeti and bag trick may have worked for Frost [Jack snorted], but it ain't gonna work for Sheila."

"You might be right. Okay then, I'll leave it to you. Ve'll meet again tomorrow to greet our new Guardian–"

Bunny cut in again. "I think it'll be better if it's just the two of us, Mate. Pressuring her with a crowd isn't going to be a good idea." She'd probably see it as a confrontation and shut down, and that would get them no where.

Santa nodded his head, "Very well zen. Everyone is dismissed. I'll see you tomorrow Bunny."

Everyone made their way out of the room except for Sandy and Bunny. The Pooka rubbed the bridge between his eyes before the Sandman tapped him on the arm. Bunny looked at him as he gave a flurry of signs, making Bunny laugh. "Yeah, I hope she's easier to recruit than Jack too."

* * *

Effie sat in a tree, watching as a couple held a pair of binoculars to their eyes, looking at the birds that were beginning to reappear. She envied them for their relationship. She was envious of how the humans always had someone to talk to. She hated to admit it, but she was lonely. Four hundred years was a long time to go being invisible. It would have been even longer if it hadn't been for the tribes that she would periodically find around the world. All the big civilizations had stopped believing in her over a thousand years ago. It was true that she had the animals of the world, and their company was nice, but it wasn't the same as being with someone who could speak back.

She heaved a sigh, hopping down and off the tree. She landed gracefully on the ground and turned to walk in the direction of the center of the town. There was no life there worth mentioning, but she figured she'd help the small garden's grow for the children. She resented the growth of the industry, it had hurt the land so much, and everything was becoming sickly because of the progressive rise of pollution in the air. The humans were making it faster than she could clean it.

She turned down an alley, taking a short cut to the row houses. Their gardens always needed help.

"Been a while."

Effie jumped. Her heart raced as she whirled around and reached for the seeds in her pouch. When her eyes found the rabbit, she let out a visible sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, it's just you." She breathed.

He looked at her confused, "Who else would it be?"

She shrugged, "Snow White coming to extend his winter-fest, Cupid asking me on a date [Bunny quirked an eyebrow at that], the usual annoyances."

She itched to tell him who she really had been afraid to find, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to say it out loud and she didn't want to alarm him. She was handling the situation just fine by herself anyhow.

"Here to check up on preparations for your holiday? Only four more days, right?" Effie asked, "Everything should be nice and spring like as long as Frost doesn't show his ugly head. I swear, if he causes another blizzard in the middle of spring, I will rip his head off!"

"You and me both, Sheila; but no, that's not why I'm here. North is requesting to meet with you. He has a proposition for you." Bunnymund said.

The red-head frowned. "Just what does he want? I'm sort of busy with making it warm."

"It won't take long, I promise, and it will be worth your while."

"Fine then, where and when?" She asked.

"Now preferably and to the North Pole of course—"

"And just how do you expect me to get there? I can only faze to places with trees and can only fly for very short distances now, if you even want to call it flying. Not much power in being invisible."

Bunny tapped the ground with his foot, holding his hand out for her. "We'll take the tunnels."

Effie's face lit up with a grin. "Quite the gentlerabbit, now aren't you?"

"I'm in the presence of a former goddess, after all."

Her eyes softened, taking the rabbit's hand as she was helped into the tunnel.

She could hardly contain her excitement as she took her first steps forward. She'd been wanting to travel through Bunnymund's tunnels for a while (like since she first learned of their existence). Her eyes wandered over the lush green vines and grass, catching on the occasional flower. They were even more amazing than she had ever imagined. She wanted to know where each tunnel led, if they were all as beautiful and magical as this one. He landed right behind her, smiling at the amazed look on her face. She turned to him, looking more like a kid in that moment than the 2,300 something year old spirit that she was.

"Which way, Cap'n?" She asked eagerly.

Bunny laughed. It was odd to see a spirit older than him acting like a child on Christmas Day. It was a nice change from her usual melancholy. He pointed in the direction they were going to head.

"Just follow me, Sheila, and try to keep up."

* * *

**Well, there ya go. Chapter one. I know she came off as very depressing, but I swear it will get better. And no, there is not a romance bubbling between Bunny and Effie. He's more like a father or older brother to her, oddly enough. He simply understands her very well. I hope I kept the guardians in character. Tell me if I didn't and I will try to fix it. Please review and constructive criticism is welcomed if you wish to give it.**

**-CeeCee-chi**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I am working on this and my 8 page paper at the same time. Am I a multi-tasker or what? But this might be the only quick chapter for a while, as I am reaching finals week. Being a college student is difficult. Hardly ever any time for fun stuff. If I'm proven wrong and am able to get the next few chapters out pretty quickly, that would be great; just don't hold your breath. And as always, I own nothing but Effie.**

* * *

_Chapter Two_

"Why now?"

In all the years that she had been around, never once had they approached her for more than help with the weather (not that she had much control over it, but she could stop the rain just long enough for them to get in and get out), the Easter Bunny being the only exception, and even then, they only really spoke once a year. Why would they want her to join their little alliance now? She didn't get it.

"Man in Moon has requested for you to join ze front to protect ze children." North replied.

Effie sat on a table across from Bunny and North, swinging her feet slightly. They were in the Globe room, alone with the exception of the elves and yetis that occasionally passed through. She gave them an incredulous look. Bunnymund couldn't seem to shake the sense of Déjà vu that the sight gave him.

"Protect the children from what? I thought you already took down Pitch, and you did it without needing my help," the red-head stated, trying to ignore the twang of pain the little fact gave her.

"Yes, but Man in Moon says zat–"

Mother Nature held up her hand, cutting off the round man. "Basically what you're saying is that you don't have any real reason for bringing me here other than Moon Man telling you to? Great way to get someone to join your little band of heroes if you ask me."

North and Bunny squirmed under her skeptical gaze, feeling quite awkward. They were coming out to look like real idiots.

So she was right. She shook her head, laughing to herself. This was such a ridiculous situation. _'Guess it's a race to see who can get me first, then.'_ She thought bitterly.

She hopped off the table, walking past the two men who watched her. "Tell Moon Man thanks, but no thanks. I see what he's trying to do, but I'm doing just fine by myself."

The Pooka frowned. "And just what is he trying to do, Sheila?"

Effie gave the rabbit a smirk. "Nothing you need to worry your fuzzy little ears about."

Bunny didn't like her snide remark. "Oi, watch it lass. It's obviously something of concern if the Man in the Moon is askin' us to do something about it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's none of your business, Bunny."

North cleared his throat. "Efthalia,"

Effie cringed at the use of her full name. "Effie."

"Vhat?" the Russian man asked, confused by what she said.

"Call me, Effie. I don't go by my full name." She answered.

"Effie," North started again, "Bunnymund is right. If Man in Moon has asked us to do something, zen it means zat something needs to be done."

She scoffed, "You didn't even know that something was going on until I let it slip. You _still_ don't know what's going on." She turned away from them, staring at two elves that were munching on the cookies that were supposed to be for the guests, or in this case, her.

"Then tell us, Sheila."

Effie didn't look at them; she kept her gaze looking away from them so they couldn't see the pain in her green eyes. If she said it out loud, then she would have to face the reality of it.

"Like I said before, it's none of your business."

North could hear the strain in her voice, but he chose to leave it be. She would tell them in her own time, and he wouldn't push in any further today.

"Please consider ze position of Guardian. Don't decide against it too quickly." The old man said, changing the subject.

She turned around, looking him straight in the eye. "I am not guardian material."

Bunny laughed at that, making her squint at him. "What's so funny about that?"

"I've seen ya with the children. Ya love them, planting butterflies on their noses and providing wind for their kites. I'm a particular fan of how you let them approach the animals. Their curious eyes light up with joy when they can touch them."

North nodded in his agreement. "Man in Moon vouldn't chose you if you were not good for ze children."

Effie gave a small smile, thinking about the happy looks she had seen on all of those children's faces over the years. She quickly rid herself of the smile though, looking back at the men before her.

"I'll think about it."

Their faces lit up and she almost laughed. Almost.

"Great!" North boomed. "You shall stay here tonight and ve'll discuss zeez again tomorrow!"

"Wait, what–"

The big man grabbed her by the shoulder and all but dragged her out of the room, the Easter Bunny following close behind. They pushed through a large set of doors, entering the workshop. Effie's eyes grew in size as she took it all in. It was just as amazing as Bunny's tunnels. She was basically humming with excitement, her entire being itching to explore.

The two men noticed her excitement and shared a smile.

"Vould you like a tour?" The Russian man asked her.

Later she would find her response to his question embarrassing, especially since she had put up such a tough exterior only moments before, but she couldn't stop the excited giggle that left her lips. She was off, running around from station to station before either North or Bunny could say anything.

Tours were limited anyway. She wanted to see _everything_.

* * *

Jack had not been planning to stop by North's place, especially since they had been told that it wasn't mandatory for them to greet (a.k.a. freak out) the new guardian. He had planned to go elsewhere, possibly Greenland or Russia, where he would make it snow and cause a blizzard just for the heck of it. But his day hadn't gone according to plan. He had become curious, too much so, and wanted to know if Mother Nature had agreed to become the new guardian.

So here he was, North's workhouse, looking for the owner of the place. He walked through all of the usual places, not finding the man of the house anywhere. Not in the Globe room, not in his office, and not in the sleigh room taking care of the sleigh or reindeer. The only place he hadn't checked yet was the workshop. It was the biggest room and he always disliked trying to find anyone in there, though it did always give him a great opportunity to check out the new toys.

He pushed through the doors and in an instant flew to the top of the room. He surveyed over the room, his icy blue eyes searching intently for the big man. He wasn't on the top level, nor was he on the level below that. He floated over the yetis as they worked, scanning the levels and still unable to find the man. It shouldn't be that hard to find a giant Russian Santa! (It certainly didn't help that he kept getting distracted by some of the cooler looking gadgets that the yetis were working on.)

"North! What does this thing do?" A clearly feminine voice broke through the din of the yetis work, carrying up to where the winter spirit floated. It was familiar but it wasn't Tooth's. Tooth's voice was higher in pitch and reminded him of tinkling bells, this voice was slightly deeper and somehow gave him the impression of warm caramel...

So she was still there. He guessed that meant that she had agreed and taken the oath. Then again, didn't all the guardians have to be there for the oath part? Maybe that was why she was still there. He followed the direction the voice had come from.

He found himself on the middle level, landing himself just out of the way of the busy yetis. He spotted the Santa right away (he wasn't trying all that hard before, to be honest), leaning over a table with a strange flying bird contraption on it. Jack's eyes shifted to the person that stood next to North who was watching intently as the old man explained the mechanics of the toy. He could have laughed at how wide her eyes were and how utterly happy she looked; this wasn't the Mother Nature he remembered.

The young spirit smirked, forming a snow ball in his hand. It would be rude if he didn't greet her, right?

The snow ball escaped his hand, heading through the air and straight for its target. It looked like it was about to hit her in the side of the head, but she ducked her head just seconds before impact. The ball of snow instead hit a yeti square in the face. From the looks of it, it had been Phil. Jack quietly groaned at his bad luck as Phil glared and made angry grunts while wiping the snow off his face. Jack gave a sheepish grin to the yeti in apology. He couldn't believe he had missed her! He formed another, determined to hit her, and was about to throw it...

"If I dodged the first one, what makes you think I won't doge this one?" The girl asked.

Jack grinned sheepishly, hiding the snow ball behind his back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

North turned around, noticing Frost's presence. "Jack, my boy! Vhat good surprise zeez is! Vhat brings you here?"

"The intent to harass me, no doubt," Mother Nature muttered to herself, but Jack heard it, causing him to smirk at her.

"Oh, just curious. Wanted to know if nature girl [said girl rolled her eyes at the name] will be joining us or not. Hey," the young guardian said, "Where's Bunny, wasn't he supposed to be here?"

"Easter's in three days. He had to leave to prepare-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Nature cut off North, staring disbelievingly at the white haired teen. "What do you mean by 'us'? Are you telling me that you are a guardian?"

"You did not know zeez?" The Russian Santa asked.

The red-head whirled to face the big guy. "Obviously not! I can't believe you let him become a guardian! That you chose him before me! Forget it; I've made up my mind and my answer's no!"

Jack gave her a dirty look, insulted by her comment. "What the hell?! You're going to say no just because of me? What did I ever do to you?!"

That was a stupid question.

Efthalia stomped towards him, bringing her face only centimeters from his, her green eyes alit with anger. "I have a long list, trailing back 300 years, Snow. What would you like me to start with? Oh, I know, how about the blizzard of '68? Bunny wasn't the only one you pissed off with that one. How about that snow storm last August? Do you even know how much damage you caused with that? I spent weeks, WEEKS, cleaning up that mess, just for it to turn to late autumn and become your damn season! You _**piss**_ me off!"

Jack may have felt guilty if it hadn't been for the fact that he enjoyed seeing her this riled up. He couldn't quite place a finger on it as to why he liked it so much, he just did. A smirk appeared on his face, causing the woman to become even more pissed.

"What the hell are you smirking about?"

"Efthalia, that's your name right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Effie" she corrected.

"You need to chill, Effie."

Oh, he thought he was so clever. Effie nearly strangled him. What she wouldn't give to throw him through a window into a pool of hot water. She spun around, slapping him with her red hair. Jack flinched in an attempt dodge the hair, just missing getting a mouthful of it. It slapped against his cheek and brushed under his nose instead. _Huh, smells like spring_, he thought, making him curious to whether he smelled like winter. Did winter even have a smell? You'd think he'd know.

"North, thanks for showing me around. I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer. Tell Moon Man thanks for finally trying to include me." With that she stormed out of the workshop, leaving North stunned and Jack angry.

"She needs to lighten up, jeez!"

The older man turned to the teen, giving him a disappointed look. Jack caught his look.

"What?"

"Go apologize."

Jack gave his father figure a frown. "Excuse me? I didn't do anything."

North pointed in the direction Effie had gone. "Go."

"She's probably already long gone!"

"She can't leave ze building without help. She's too veak to fly anymore. Now, go apologize!"

Jack huffed angrily, following after the nature spirit. It was her own damn fault for taking everything so damn personally! He was only having some fun!

* * *

Effie traveled through the many halls that made up Santa's ice palace looking for any sign of plant life. She just needed a tree. Even a small potted tree would have been good enough! But she couldn't find anything! It almost felt like they had de-planted the place to make sure she couldn't escape…

They wouldn't have done that, would they? Nah, she was just being paranoid.

She let out a frustrated sigh as she turned another corner, contemplating turning back and asking North for help. Not that she would be able to find her way back. She had discovered about 15 minutes ago that she was completely lost, she just didn't want to accept it. She stopped walking and leaned against a wall, feeling rather defeated as she finally admitted to herself that she was lost.

"I can't even get myself out of a damn building!" She muttered, disheartened. If she couldn't get herself out of a building, who could she possibly be fooling by thinking she could handle the shadows by herself. She was way over her head. Maybe she should go back and apologize…

"There you are!"

Her eyes glared up at the ceiling, in the direction of where the moon was sitting in the sky, silently cursing him. That had been a thought carried forth by her momentary weakness. She hadn't been serious. She really didn't want to apologize to the guy. He was an arrogant butt.

She shifted tired eyes to the white-haired teen. "Where else would I be?" She asked humorlessly.

Jack gave her a dry look. "Look, I came here to apologize–"

She laughed; now that was a turn of events. This was her chance to turn back and accept their little proposition and get the help that she needed, all she had to do was accept his apology…but he still really pissed her off, and nothing less than slapping him around was going to make her forgive him.

She wasn't very smart sometimes.

"Apology…not accepted." She threw him a bitter grin.

"You know what? No, I'm not going to apologize. You don't deserve one. You need to lighten up and have some fun once in a while." He said, tilting his staff in her direction.

Effie pushed off the wall, laughing bitterly. "Thanks for your input, Snow White. Knew you didn't have it in you to admit that you were wrong, anyway."

"Can't say I'm wrong when I'm not," He retorted.

She looked at him, exasperated. "You made it snow…in August...in London!"

"It made the kids happy." He said, as if that was the only explanation he needed.

"You killed thousands of my butterflies!"

"Butterflies are hardly as important as children."

The nature spirit was fuming. "This is why I don't want to be a guardian! I can't stand you! You have no regard for the bigger picture!"

"You'd make a shitty guardian anyway." The winter spirit mocked.

"I'd make a better guardian than you!"

"Ha! You wish! Do you even know what your center is?"

"Of course I know what my...m-my what?" This caught Effie off guard.

Jack smiled in triumph. "Your center. If you don't know what I mean, you're going to have to go ask North."

She narrowed her eyes, catching on to what he was doing. "Clever," she grudgingly admitted. Now she knew there was no way of getting back to civilization without some more urging to join on their part.

He smirked, leaning on his staff. "Don't know what you're talking about."

She rolled her eyes, and she hated to admit it, but now she was really curious as to what he meant by 'center.'

She thought quietly, staring blankly at the winter spirit. Finally she spoke.

"Fine, I'll go talk to North again, but I still don't want to be a guardian."

He looked at her with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Of course not; you haven't got the stomach for it."

Ha ha, how very clever of him, trying to present her with a challenge to prove him wrong. Wasn't going to work, though…even if she did itch to prove him completely wrong. She was a 2,312 year old spirit (she'd started keeping track after the first two hundred years). She'd be a kick ass guardian. Better than some 300 year old twerp.

Jack turned to fly off, but Effie grabbed onto the sleeve of his hoodie before he could get real far. He looked back at her over his shoulder, an obnoxious smirk on his face. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't let go. She took a deep breath, not wanting to ask him for help.

"I'm…sort of lost." She admitted hesitantly. Boy, did that wound her ego.

He grinned, his white teeth blinding her momentarily. "And…?"

_Why, that little…! He's going to make me ask!_

She closed her eyes, fighting the urge to hit him. "And…I need help finding my way back." She paused for a second, opening her eyes again. "Please."

The grin that appeared on his face pissed her off to no end, but she bit her tongue. No point in screwing herself over.

"Follow me, then." Jack said, planting his feet on the ground and leading the way. They walked in silence for several minutes before Effie started getting really uncomfortable. She should thank him, she thought.

"Thanks, Snow Flurry (she couldn't resist). And…I'm sorry for blowing up at you…" Her voice dropped in volume, feeling awkward.

The winter spirit didn't look back at her, which was probably for the best since she didn't think she would be able to handle it; but he did tilt his head and shift his staff a little.

"Don't worry about it, Nat (Effie quirked up an eyebrow in amusement). And I guess I'm sorry too. I didn't know I was messing things up so much for you when I make it snow off-season."

The red-head smiled, "Apology accepted."

* * *

**Okay, so this took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I just couldn't seem to make it right, and I still don't know how I feel about it. I feel like I'm getting the character's all wrong, but since the movie is still in theaters, I don't really have anything to go back to to reference. I apologize for any OOCness. Thanks for all the reviews, by the way. They always make my day! Well, tell me what you think. Do you like her, hate her? Is the story interesting enough?**

**-CeeCee-chi**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is brought to you because you guys gave me so many fantastic reviews, follows and favorites. You all make my day!**

* * *

_Chapter Three_

Effie played with the seeds she carried within her pouch, swirling them above her head. She'd pull forth the beginning signs of growth from them, having the faint roots interlock, then close them back up in the membrane of their seeds. It looked like an intricate dance, though she barely paid attention to what she was doing. Her mind had wandered to the conversation she'd had with North earlier that day.

_After Jack had gotten her back to the big man, he'd stuck around for a little while longer, much to her dismay. He kept watching her expectantly, waiting for her to say something, probably waiting for her to ask North about what he had brought up earlier, and each time she would stare directly back at him, trying to will him away. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of victory (even though she was pretty sure he already knew he had won this battle). After about half an hour, he seemed to get the point and parted with a goodbye and a promise to come back again tomorrow._

_She had visibly relaxed once he was gone and turned to the older man. "So…I'm sorry about my hissy fit earlier." She had started, "I'm much too old to be acting that way."_

_North had responded with hearty laughter. "Do not think on it. You're still a child, and you are allowed to act like one."_

_Effie had quirked an eyebrow at being called a child. She was older than him, if anything, he was the child. North had seemed to pick up on what she was thinking._

_"No matter how long you have been around, you veren't fully grown ven you were chosen." The Russian man had said._

_"But I **was** fully grown. Women were seen as adults at age 16. We were expected to be married and with at least one child at age 19. I was not a child, North. On top of that, I've had over 2,000 years to mature even more. I had no excuse what-so-ever to act that way." She had replied._

Even now she was amazed that North had called her a child.

_He had shaken his head, a sad smile on his face. "Being worshipped doesn't make someone mature."_

Even now, the comment pissed her off. What did he know? She was the older one. She was the one with more experience. He knew nothing about the world compared to her! She caught herself, realizing just how immature those thoughts had sounded…maybe he was right after all.

_She had wanted to stop the conversation altogether and leave then and there, but thought that would only prove his point. So instead she changed the subject. "Jack said something when he found me that got me curious…"_

_"And vhat was zat?"_

_"Something about a 'center.' He said that if I didn't know what he was talking about that I should talk to you." She had murmured, so thankful that Jack had left._

_"Ah, zat vas clever of him to bring it up. Your center is vhat is at ze center of your being. Each of us have one, covered by ze many layers that make us who ve are. At my center is a child filled viz wonder. All my life I have looked at things with eyes full of wonder, wonder that I now share with ze world, and wonder zat I protect in ze children. Bunny's is hope, Sandy's is dreams, and Tooth's is memories."_

_"What's Jack's?" Effie had asked._

_"Fun."_

Quite honestly, that made perfect sense. Dangerous, reckless, annoying 'fun' just screamed him.

_"So, what's mine?"_

_"Zat's something zat you're going to have to figure out for yourself" was all North had said in answer._

Now she tossed and turned on the bed in the guest room they had given her. It was bothering her to no end. What was her center? What resided at the core of her being? How did one even go about figuring that out?

She didn't have a clue. Her only conclusion was that she wasn't guardian material after all.

Effie rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face into the pillow. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in a bed. She had forgotten just how amazingly comfortable it was. She had all but fallen in love with the plush pillow she cradled her head in. When she left, she was definitely taking the pillow with her.

She shifted around some more, curling into the pillow. It was a great comfort hugging something close to her. It made her feel a little less alone. Within moments, her eyes had fluttered closed, and she found herself hoping that the Sandman would send her a lovely dream before she fell asleep completely.

* * *

The shadows were always there, lurking just out of reach, in both her dreams and reality. They mocked her, haunted her. They made sure to remind her of her days in the sun as the goddess that so many had worshipped. They made sure it stung when they reminded her of her loneliness now. They laughed at how no one believed in her and how no one would ever believe in her again. They laughed at how useless she was, how tainted and filthy she had become. They rubbed in her guilt and regret. They made sure she suffered.

Their onslaught was relentless.

When they first started attacking her, Effie had been able to ward them off. She had been strong enough to ignore their taunts, but her strength was diminishing. Their voices lingered, always in her head, even when they weren't there. She could feel each one of their attacks now, growing stronger and stronger as she grew weaker and weaker.

Despite what she said about being able to handle it on her own, she was breaking. She wouldn't be able to keep up the fight for much longer.

Tonight, their attack was brutal. They came forth in fits of nightmares. The nightmares were indiscernible, flashes of images and colors laced with whispers that she could barely hear, but the effect was the same. She whimpered in her sleep, tears slipping from her closed eyes. She was scared and hurt and angry, and the shadows loved it. They fed from it.

Effie cried out silently as her chest ached with a hollow feeling, but she just couldn't seem to wake up. She felt trapped.

_You are trapped._

_**You don't deserve believers. **_

_You abandoned us! _

_**This is your punishment!**_

She clenched her fists, blood seeping from where her nails bit in. Out of her mouth came a strangled "I'm sorry."

_Not good enough,_ the voices said.

_**We'll make you sorry!**_

Strong hands grabbed her, yanking her from her sleep. The red-head screamed, shivering with her fear as her eyes fluttered all over the place, completely unfocused.

"Please, I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do! Please don't hurt me!" She cried, breaking down into a sobbing mess. She was too far gone in her own despair to realize how weak and broken she was coming off as. She didn't care. She grabbed on the fabric of the shirt on the person who shook her awake desperately, needing to anchor herself onto something, anything.

"Effie, calm yourself! You've done nothing wrong. You are safe now." North's warm voice curled around her comfortingly. Still, she could not make sense of the words, her mind still in a state of disarray.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She murmured over and over again, rocking herself as she clutched onto North's shirt.

"Бедный маленький цветок, vhy did you not tell anyone?" The older man whispered, pulling the girl into his arms.

He rocked her in his arms until her tears subsided and she silently fell back to sleep. He turned his head to the yeti that stood in the doorway.

"Zank you for retrieving me. I vill stay with her for rest of night. You may go back to bed."

The yeti nodded in reply and left. North looked back down at the red-headed teen in his arms, sympathy in his eyes. He could see the bite marks on her lips and the dark circles under her eyes, and he could smell the blood that had been smeared on his shirt from her palms. Her nightmare had to have been a very nasty one to leave her so shattered.

He started humming a Russian lullaby as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. He would have to talk to her in the morning.

* * *

**I'm aware that it's a short chapter, but it was needed. Now you all know a little about what she's facing here. I know, there's no Jack in this chapter, but he'll be back in the next one, I promise. How many of you thought it was going to be him to wake up Effie rather than North? It would have been so sweet and great if that were the case, but then I would have to explain why he was there, in her room, creepin on her. So the Russian Santa took his place. Tell me what you thought, what you think I could improve, etc.**

**Translation: Бедный маленький цветок - Poor little flower**

**Video inspiration: www. youtube watch?v=jDoeNx53_W8 (minus the spaces)  
**

**-CeeCee-chi**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah, sorry this took so long, but as I warned earlier, I've entered the end of my semester and have dived head first into finals. Final essays and final projects and final exams, all of which take a lot of time to prepare for, write and create, as well as sucking up most of the inspiration that I have. I have been trying to find songs that might inspire me, and they do give me ideas…but for later chapters, which really just doesn't help at the current moment. Well, I don't own anything but Effie. On to the story!**

* * *

_Chapter Four_

She felt drained. Her head was pounding and her muscles were tight and sore. It vaguely reminded her of her first hundred or so years of existence where she had discovered it was indeed quite possible (albeit difficult) for an immortal to get drunk and wake up with a hangover. Certainly not some of her proudest moments in life (not that anyone ever expected Greek gods to be virtuous). She uncurled her body, wincing at the popping sounds some of her joints made. Last night had been a real doozy.

Effie sat up, inspecting her hands. They had healed, thankfully, but the green that was her blood was still crusted there. She groaned as she wiped the residue on her green leggings (they had to have been one of the greatest things that the humans had come up with as of yet). She kept her eyes off the mirror that sat in the corner of the room. She did not want to see how awful she looked at the moment. It was bad enough that North had seen her in such a state last night…

Oh. Shit.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. North had witnessed her nightmare.

She sprung up off of the bed, panicked. He wouldn't tell the rest of the guardians, would he? She didn't want them looking at her with sad eyes and asking her how they could help. She didn't want them alarmed or involved. She was handling it just fine! She pulled and straightened her tunic, pulling the belt back into place and made sure her pouch was attached before quickly working on her hair. As soon as she thought she was fit enough for the public eye, she yanked the door open, ready to chase the Russian Santa down.

She nearly ran into Jack instead. He stood poised as if he had been about to knock and looked at her with wide eyes. Neither had expected to see the other. The winter spirit was the first to break the shocked silence that had settled around them.

"You look like hell."

Certainly not something the nature spirit had wanted to hear.

"W-what are you doing here?" Effie really didn't like how weak and scratchy her voice sounded. She _sounded_ like hell.

"North asked me to come get you…are you always like this in the morning? I always pictured you as a morning person." The white-haired teen inquired, taking in her full appearance.

She rubbed her face with her hands, trying to rid herself of this situation. Her skin felt warm and clammy. Ugh, she had to look just as bad as he said. She touched the skin under her eyes, wondering if there were dark circles there. After a few moments she answered his question.

"I _am_ a morning person, I'm an all day person…this is just a… special occasion." She tried to laugh off her appearance, but from the look on his face, he wasn't finding it very amusing.

"Did something happen last night?"

"Nope; I just didn't sleep too well. Must be the lack of nature here," He gave her a look that stated he still wasn't buying it so she changed the subject, "Didn't you say something about North asking you to get me? We shouldn't leave him waiting."

Jack watched as she walked past him. He wanted to say something because he knew there was something she wasn't saying. Her skin had paled considerably from its usual soft tanned olive color, her eyes were dull and her movements were jerky and slow, so unlike her usual graceful dance like steps (not that he had spent hours in the past watching her…he was just very observant, was all). There was no way that it had just been a usual bout of restless slumber that had caused all of that. She looked sick, not tired.

He followed her back to North, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. There were a few times while they were walking that she had looked like she was about to fall over, and each time he started to reach for her, but she would steady herself before he could help her. It had happened five times already, and it was getting to the point where if it happened again, he was going to carry her.

A splash of purple appeared on his cheeks. That would certainly be something interesting to explain to North.

"Would you please stop looking at me like that?" Effie's voice cut through his train of thought, bringing his attention back to her.

"Look at you like what?"

"Like I'm about to break. I'm not fragile, Jack." She replied. Her voice had a bite to it, putting him on the defensive.

"Never said you were." Jack responded, trying to ignore the desire to bite back at her.

"Then stop looking at me like that." Her tone was snippy and curt, still she didn't turn around to look at him, nor did she stop walking.

He stopped walking, throwing his arms in the air. "What the hell is your problem? I'm not looking at you like you're going to break! You've almost fallen five times; sorry I'm getting concerned about your well-being!"

The red-head stopped walking as well, snapping around to glare at the winter spirit. "I don't need your damn concern. I'm doing just fine, so stop looking at me like I'm some broken toy that needs help!"

"You're doing fine? You look like you've been to war and back!"

Their voices had begun to escalate to shouting as they glared each other down. Jack found himself confused as to how it had reached this point. He had just come to retrieve her. What the hell had gone so wrong for her to suddenly get so angry?

"Listen, Frost!" She said poking his chest. He reflexively grabbed her wrist, and she tried hard to ignore how refreshing his cold touch felt against her over-heated skin. She probably had a fever. "I am not some fragile ice sculpture that needs someone like you to take care of it! I don't know who you think you are–"

"Effie, Jack! Zere you are! You vere taking long time, I came to find you!" North interrupted with his jolly Russian accent. Jack had never been more relieved to see the man.

"I need to talk to you!" Effie nearly shouted, spinning to look at the older man.

The Russian Santa nodded his head, "Yes, ve do need to talk, but first–"

"No, we need to talk…now." She responded with a firm voice; she gave the winter spirit next to her a stern look, "And you can leave."

Jack tensed, ready to get into another fight with the girl. He didn't know what her problem was, but it was really starting to get on his nerves. He hated being spoken to like he was some sort of a nuisance. A glance at North stopped him from responding to her snide remark, though. He huffed, pushing his white hair out of his face before storming off.

The big man looked down at the nature spirit, waiting for her to start.

She looked him square in the eye and stood with her shoulders back as she firmly spoke. "Last night is not to be mentioned…ever. Not to anyone else, not even to me. I don't need your help, I don't need your concern, and I don't need your pity."

"You do need help, no matter if you zink you do or not. You vould not look like zeez if you didn't need help." North stated, "Let us help."

"No, I don't need help! I'm doing just fine by myself and I have been since the beginning." She seethed.

"Man in Moon–"

"Man in the Moon nothing! I don't care what he told you! He hasn't given me a second though since he created me. He's left me alone for over 2,000 years! Do you know how lonely that is?" Angry and hurt tears slid from her eyes as she continued. "Being a goddess was just as lonely; they put me on this stupid pedestal, they didn't want to be my friend. And still, I grew attached to them, and they would grow old and die and I never aged a day. It hurt so much that I kept my distance, and then I slowly became invisible to them. Turning to the animals only helped for a little bit; they can't talk back…"

She took a deep breath, casting her eyes away from the bigger man. Her anger was swelling up again as she felt the loneliness crushing down on her again. She resented the stupid moon.

"He knew, too. Moon Man knew how alone I was! But he doesn't care! Not a single one of you even talked to me unless you needed help with the weather. Bunny was the first one to actually ask me how I was! Can you even imagine how wonderful that was!? Suddenly everyone gives a flying fuck, but it's too late! Is he afraid that I'm going to join the dark side, that I'll be too powerful of an enemy? Is that why he cares now? Why the hell did he wait until I was completely isolated and lonely?" Effie shouted, gasping for air as she fiercely wiped the tears from her face. She felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off of her chest.

She suddenly blushed, realizing what she had just done. She'd blown up at a man who had only been offering to help her. She lowered her head in shame, afraid to look at the older man's face, though he had listened calmly and quietly throughout her whole rant.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "You didn't deserve that."

North chuckled softly, "Do not worry. Vhat matters is you feel better. Do you feel better?"

The red-head nodded, still keeping her gaze down.

"Good, now come. Guardians vish to greet you. I will not speak of last night until you are willing to ask for help." The Russian man stated, putting his arm around the nature spirit, herding her towards the globe room.

Effie looked at him, panicked, "But I look like hell! It's bad enough that Snow saw me like this, I don't want the rest of them to see me like this!"

North laughed heartily. "Nonsense, you look much better already!" He continued to push her forwards.

She continued to resist. "At least let me wash my face! I can't let them see me like this!"

He gave a deep sigh, like a father does when his daughter's being a pain. "Fine, but be quick."

Effie was out of his grasp and running back towards her room before he could blink, tossing him a "Thank you!" over her shoulder as she went. She was still such a child and it had him smiling.

* * *

Jack silently fumed in his seat. Nothing less than throwing a snow ball straight at her face was going to make him feel better at the moment. How dare she speak to him like that?! He was only trying to help! He glared at her when she walked in, though he did have to admit that he was a little relieved at how much better she looked already.

She had barely stepped into the room when Tooth suddenly had her fingers in her mouth. Jack snickered at that, earning an unamused glance from the red-head whose mouth was currently being violated.

"Efthalia! It's been so long! A little over 400 years I believe. Your teeth are still so nice!" Tooth oozed, her baby fairies hovering next to her to look into the nature spirit's mouth as well.

"Ufs Uffie" Effie tried to say around the fingers.

"What's that?" The fairy asked, pulling her fingers out of her mouth momentarily.

"It's Effie" The girl repeated.

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry! I should have remembered that!" And then her fingers were back to poking around the girls mouth, all the time Tooth complimenting the teeth and how straight and clean they were. Jack couldn't help the satisfied smile that appeared on his face. It was much too enjoyable watching her get her mouth "Toothified". What was that saying again? 'Karma is a bitch?'

Sandy tapped the Tooth Fairy's shoulder, smiling at Mother Nature. Tooth glanced over and smiled sheepishly before backing away from the poor girl. "Sorry!"

A flurry of signs appeared on the top of his head as he talked to Effie, but the girl just stared at him blankly. He frowned, trying again, but showing the signs slower. When understanding spread across her face, he smiled, thinking she had gotten his point.

Effie looked over his shoulder to the winter spirit, pointing at the Sandman. She kept her face straight as a board as she said, "I think he's trying to communicate with me…"

Despite himself, Jack cracked up. He may be angry with her, but he couldn't deny that her comment had been perfect.

Effie cracked her own smile at the other teen's laughter; she had felt bad for how she had treated him earlier. She had acted inexcusably and making him laugh was her attempt at a peace offering. She glanced down at the Sandman who was blowing sand out of his ears and she gave him an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry, Sandy. I'm just kidding."

More signs appeared over his head, and she nodded after a few moments of deciphering them. "I've been doing fine for the most part. No, I haven't agreed to become a guardian yet. I'm still thinking about it…really, you think so? Icicle over there seemed to think otherwise." She said, looking at the teen who was still chuckling a bit.

A figure of Jack appeared over Sandy's head, seemingly exploding into tiny pieces, or at least that was what it looked like. Effie stared at the guy, shell-shocked before she started laughing uncontrollably. "You're going to make him explode!? Oh my! Don't you think that's a little much?" She knew what he had been trying to say (at least she thought she did; she was pretty much just guessing), but how he said it was so off that she couldn't help but to laugh.

Sandy slapped a hand to his forehead, feeling rather defeated.

"No, sorry…I know what you're trying to say. But no, you don't need to teach him a lesson. Thank you though!" The red-head grinned, patting the Sandman on the head.

After Jack had curbed his laughter, he kept his eyes on the nature spirit. He wasn't fuming anymore, it's hard to be angry at someone who can tease the Sandman with a straight face, but he still wasn't completely happy with her. There still was no reason for her to have gotten that angry with him.

He noticed something off about her as she chatted with Sandy and Tooth. Her laughter seemed forced and her smiles fake. He was the Guardian of Fun; he knew when someone was genuinely happy. She wasn't. She looked like she was merely making an effort to be polite. He noticed her give wary glances towards North every now and then, and the more he watched her, the more the exchange before him looked unnatural. It was disgustingly perfect and left him with the distinct feeling of plastic. He almost wanted to start a fight with her again just to get rid of the feeling. He may not know her well (or at all, really), but he knew that this could be her.

"It's been fun talking with you two, and it's certainly been a while since I've seen you both, but I need to go. Bunny may have a little control over floral growth, but he's busy with Easter, so I need to get back to work and bring spring to the world. I promise to thoroughly think over the guardian offer, so if somebody could escort me home, that'd be great." Effie stated, a polite smile on her face.

Jack could have gagged at the sugary sweetness in her tone. Neither Tooth nor Sandy seemed to notice how fake her voice sounded. He stole a glance at North, but he couldn't read the Russian man's face to determine if he had picked up on the unnaturalness of it all.

"I suppose you are right. You need to get back to job, as do all of us. Jack, you take Effie back, use one of ze snow globes." North said, taking one of the red-head's hands and looking into her eyes. "Please consider position of Guardian, and do not be afraid to ask us for help."

Mother Nature nodded, her polite smile still in place, though Jack saw a flash of emotion in her eyes. The girl turned to him, still with the fake smile. That wasn't going to work for him. Before she could say anything, he beat her to it. "Let's just get out of here."

* * *

Effie felt nauseous. Never, ever was she going to travel through one of those magic portals again; it had felt like her insides had been violated and stomped on. It was completely sickening. She looked at the winter spirit. He didn't look effected at all! Actually…he looked pissed. Of course he was; she still needed to apologize.

"Frost, I'm–"

"That was disgusting." Jack stated flatly.

She was confused. "What was disgusting?"

"You."

A twinge of pain shot through her, cutting off her oxygen for a moment, before she blinked. His words cut her in a way she hadn't expected. She knew she shouldn't care, they didn't get along anyway, they didn't even like each other, but she couldn't stop the hurt that she was feeling.

"Excuse me?" She asked, trying to gather anger into her voice, but failing. She just sounded hurt.

"That fake display that you put on in front of Sandy and Tooth was awful. Watching you act like there was nothing wrong, made me feel sick to my stomach. We aren't good enough for you to trust us, is that it?" He sounded angry and hurt, something she hadn't been expecting to hear. Why did he care if she trusted them or not? He didn't even like her.

"No...that's not it..."

"Then what is it? Are we not good enough for a high and mighty person like you?"

Now she was offended. "And just why should I open up to the bunch of you when you all ignored my existence for the past few hundred years? None of you would even be talking to me right now if the Man in the Moon hadn't told you to! Telling me otherwise isn't going to help! Now if you would please just drop it, because there isn't anything wrong to begin with, that would be great. I don't want to fight, I feel awful enough for blowing up at you again this morning."

Jack rolled his eyes, hardly satisfied by her response, but he dropped it anyhow. He looked around, noticing that they were surrounded by snow. He recognized the area; it was a region of Russia that was always covered in snow and one of the most common areas for him to visit. Why did she bring them here? He wasn't expecting her to live somewhere so cold.

"You live here?" He asked.

The red-head gave a little laugh, glad that he had agreed to change the subject. "No, I don't."

"Then what are we doing here? This place doesn't get spring."

"Look who knows their geography. You're right, this place doesn't get spring, but there are trees here, and I just needed to get to a place that had plant life."

"Why?"

"So I can get home."

"What?"

Effie looked square at Jack. "Are you always this curious?"

"I'm just confused is all. How does being near trees get you home?" Jack asked.

Mother Nature looked him over. He was sincerely curious about this. It was sort of cute, actually. As soon as she thought it, she tossed it aside.

"I faze through the trees; it's how I travel from place to place." She answered.

"I thought you flew…"

"I do, or well, I used to. I don't have much control over the air currents anymore, so I have to use the trees instead."

Jack nodded his head, taking in what she was saying. He usually wasn't too curious about others, mostly because he would often hear tidbits about the other immortals here and there without having to pry, but very little was ever said about Mother Nature. He'd had run ins with her in the past, him causing mischief and her getting pissed and insults flying, but he'd never learned anything about her. Hell, he hadn't even known her name until recently.

"How come we didn't just take the magic portal to get to your place then?" He asked.

Effie shifted, debating how much she should tell him. He was obviously interested in what she was saying, truly curious for the sake of being curious (she wasn't quite sure how she knew that, but she did). "Because my home can only be entered through nature. That way, no one else can enter unless I aid them."

"Oh," Jack stated.

They stood there in an awkward silence for a while. Neither one of them really knew what to say. It felt like the only time they knew what to say to one another was when they were amidst a fight, and Effie hated that. It made her feel awful, because despite him being a mischievous and annoyingly immature brat at times, he wasn't a completely bad guy. She was starting to see that.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving–"

"Wait!" The nature spirit said a little louder than she had expected, causing her cheeks to darken in embarrassment. The winter spirit jumped and looked at her expectantly, reminded of how she had done something similar the night before.

"Umm…if you're curious, I can show you."

Jack quirked an eyebrow, trying to figure out what had warranted him the honor. She held out her hand for him, while she touched her other hand to one of the trees. He placed his hand in hers, trying to ignore how nice the warmth of her fingers felt against his cold skin.

He had never enjoyed going through the magical portals that North's snow globes made. The ride was always bumpy and nauseating, but now they seemed like a walk through the park. Fazing through trees was disorienting and uncomfortable. He felt like he was being squeezed and stretched and pulled all at once, until finally it stopped. At first he couldn't see anything, his eyes still adjusting from the experience. He blinked his eyes a few times and shook his head, then finally looked around. "Wow."

Effie smiled at the amazed look on his face as he took her Sanctuary in. "Welcome to my humble abode."

* * *

**Okay, I would say that this made up for the shortness of the last chapter. This took me forever to write: a combination of writers block, school work and sleep deprivation. I feel like it could be much better, and I feel like I started getting off track with Effie, but it just happens sometimes where you find a side of your character that you just don't like. She's got trust issues, she's bitter and she's got an exterior that's proving to be colder than Jack Frost. It's annoying! But that many years of isolation can do that to a person. Funny how Jack is the one that's slowly thawing her out. Well, review. Tell me what you thought, etc.**

**-CeeCee-chi**


	5. Chapter 5

**Finals are done! I survived my third semester of college! I don't own anything but Effie. I'd be rolling in money if I did and would retire at the ripe age of 20, and I could pay for my education! Sorry guys, it's gonna be a short chapter.**

* * *

_Chapter Five_

'Humble abode' didn't even begin to cover what he was seeing. The trees and flowers that surrounded them were breath-taking. He could hear the birds singing, hiding away in their trees and the gentle gargle of the stream that lay in front of him; he saw a few smaller creatures running around, and fish swimming downstream. Very few of them looked familiar to him, he'd seen almost none of these animals before in all of his 300 years; it only helped to add to his amazement of the place.

Jack suddenly felt very aware of his own power. A single touch from him and anything would frost over. Usually he couldn't care less about what he touched and frosted, but he found himself afraid to touch anything here. He had never seen so many lush and beautiful colors in one place before, and he was afraid that if he touched anything, he would taint the beautiful sight before him.

"You can't harm anything that you touch here." Effie assured him, as if reading his mind, "Everything here has been enchanted to withstand anything and everything. They have to deal with me after all."

The winter spirit threw her a confused look at her words, but she didn't elaborate any further. He watched her look around her home, her eyes warm and gentle. He liked the look of them and the gentle sense of security that they emitted. He felt like this was a side of her that not many got to see, at least not any more.

"Would you like a tour?" Her voice broke through his trance, turning his cheeks a soft shade of purple. She didn't notice, though, as she hopped down from the massive root she had been standing on. He looked down and behind him, noticing for the first time that they had just come from the biggest tree he had ever seen…and he had seen some pretty big trees in his time.

"This…is a big tree." The snow spirit said, his voice awestruck.

"This tree is the center point of this Sanctuary. It is connected to every tree in the entire world, including the small potted ones found in households. This is how I travel through the world now, at least to the places that still have trees. I have to walk to the places without trees now." The nature spirit stated, putting a hand on one of the roots thoughtfully. "This tree used to be a lot bigger actually, and this whole place had a lot more color, but the humans keep destroying their environment, and this place is starting to feel the effects, despite my many enchantments to protect them."

He could hear the pain in her voice; he felt like he needed to say something, to comfort her somehow, but he didn't get the chance.

Effie shook her head, a smile appearing on her face once more. "Enough of that! Come on, I want to show you some of the animals and plants."

A small flock of birds flew from the branches just over them, catching the winter spirit's attention. His eyes widened as he saw a small flock of passenger pigeons. "Passenger pigeons...I could have sworn they were extinct."

"Outside of this place, they are. Many of the animals here are extinct outside of here." She answered.

Jack hopped down from the tree. So that would explain why most of the animals didn't look familiar to him. He looked to the nature spirit as she sped along in front of him, and really looked at her. She wasn't much shorter than him, maybe only an inch or two, but he couldn't really tell with how much she was moving. The color had returned to her skin. She looked so much better than this morning, so much more alive. Was this how she usually looked? With how many times he had messed with her, he felt like he should know this, but she never seemed to be this happy.

She turned around, noticing that he had started to fall behind. "Hurry up, Snowflake! I thought you were curious!" Her eyes sparkled with her grin and it did something to his insides that he would rather ignore.

He gave her a coy grin, holding his hands up as he slowly caught up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, Flytrap. Don't get your panties in a twist."

The red-head stood perfectly still, giving him a dry and humorless look. Jack felt a slice of panic slit through him as he feared what was to come next. He had meant it as a joke…she was going to take it badly and there was going to be a fight and she was going to kick him out and force him to suffer as he had to squeeze through a tree…(of course he would think she would over react, she hadn't given him reason to think otherwise).

"Who said I was wearing underwear?"

"…" Did she seriously just say that? A wave of unknown and less than comfortable heat flashed through him as he stared at her, his eyes unblinking. His abdominal muscles clenched and he couldn't tell if his temperature had just risen or lowered, but he was sure his face was a different color. He felt very uncomfortable. Had his pants always been this tight? He could have sworn they fit this morning. Her face was still completely straight as the seconds of awkward silence ticked by, until a wide and evil grin spread across her face.

"Your face right now is priceless." She laughed as she turned away from him, "Come along, Frost."

The winter spirit blinked, breaking away from his shocked daze as he stumbled after her. "That…that was cruel," he accused breathlessly. That had done things to him that he couldn't quite explain and would rather not think about.

Effie just laughed in response. "Payback is a bitch, my friend."

Hadn't he been thinking of a phrase quite similar to that earlier? This girl was better than he gave her credit for.

She knelt beside the stream, resting the tips of her fingers in the water. Jack leaned over, watching with curious eyes as three silvery fish swam up to her fingers. She wiggled them a bit, smiling as the fish nibbled a little.

"These are Clear Lake Splittails, quite possibly the last of their kind. They've been presumed to be extinct for a few years now." Mother Nature explained, running a finger along the spine of one of the fish's backs. He was barely listening to what she was saying though, more amazed by how the fish had come to her and how they let her touch them than anything else. He could briefly remember a time from when he was human, where he had gone fishing with his father or sister. The memories were right there, but just out of his reach much like the fish had always been, at least from what he could remember. He had never had the patience for sitting around and waiting for something to happen anyway.

"How are you doing that?" He asked.

"Hm?" She tilted her head slightly towards him.

"How are you touching it? Aren't fish supposed to be skittish?"

Effie chuckled, "Same reason that snow doesn't melt when you touch it. This is my element. Here, you can touch her too."

"Wha–"

Jack was yanked to his knees beside her as she grabbed hold of his wrist. She pushed his sleeve up, her fingers unintentionally brushing against his skin. He fought the shiver that threatened to run through him at the gentle touch. What the hell was the old hag doing to him? An old hag with very kissable looking lips at the moment…

Oh hells no, he did not just think that. It had to be the heat of this place. He was a winter spirit; he wasn't supposed to be in warm places like this. It was messing with his head. That had to be it. Yeah…

The nature spirit guided his hand into the water, and he threw her a panicked look. Did she realize what she was doing? The fish would freeze if he touched it! He'd kill the damned thing! But she didn't seem to notice his panic, looking quite unperturbed about the little detail of him being Old Man Winter. The water didn't freeze at his touch, but running water hardly ever did; it wasn't enough to reassure him that he wasn't going to kill the fish.

"Careful now, nature might not be fragile but it still requires a gentle touch" The spirit next to him murmured as his hand finally came into contact with the fish. He tried not to flinch as his fingers grazed over the scales on the fish's side, expecting the worst to happen.

It never did.

His eyes widened as the fish swam around his hand, completely unfazed by his tough. He ran his fingers along the spine again and again, and still the fish was fine. He let out a breathless laugh in disbelief as he curiously studied the fish. He was actually touching a living animal without harming it with his cold touch!

"I told you, Frost, you can't harm anything you touch here."

He laughed breathlessly, leaning in to get a closer look at the fish he was touching. This was almost as amazing as the moment when Jamie had first believed in him. "This is just…wow!" He thought out loud.

"If you're this excited about the fish, you're going to flip over the rabbits."

Jack's eyes widened again, turning his head to look at her. "Rabbits?"

Effie smirked, "Or would you rather look at the squirrels? Don't want you to take your rivalry with Bunny out on my poor little rabbits."

Dark eyebrows shot up. "Really? Just gonna assume I have a problem with all rabbits? You have very little faith in me."

The red-head rolled her eyes in response, standing up. She held her hand out for him and smiled. "Just come on. I think you will really like the white rabbits, though the squirrels are my personal favorite. The white ones are adorable, but so are the black ones. And they can be so very loving!" She babbled on as Jack stood. He had really misjudged her. The young woman in front of him was the farthest thing from a bitter old hag. She was more like a curious kid who wanted to share all of her discoveries.

He smiled. "Then show me the squirrels."

He was hardly able to register her grabbing his hand before he was yanked along behind her.

* * *

**Usually, here in my author notes, I try to share something cheerful or if not cheerful, something that at the very least doesn't put everyone in a downer. I'm afraid I can't do that this time. This morning an awful tragedy happened in the state of Connecticut. 20 children, ages 5 to 10, lost their lives in an elementary school shooting. I ask that you pray for them and their friends and families if you are religious, or if you are not, keep them in your thoughts. The world weeps for their loss of innocence. This is one of the worst tragedies that my country has seen within our borders in the last few years. If there truly are guardians, they have never been needed more than they are now. The children of the world have seen too many horrors. They all will be in my prayers tonight.**

**~CeeCee-chi**


	6. Chapter 6

**This world is breaking my heart. But I can't dwell on that. This is a little late, but I would like to thank VampireSiren for the idea of the Sanctuary as Effie's home. It was a great suggestion and has helped to move the story along. I'm sorry chapters are taking so long for me to write. I've been busy with baking cookies and setting up for Christmas. Can you believe that I still don't have snow? Just a lot of crappy rain, and I'm a northern state! Jack Frost needs to pay us a visit.**

**I don't own anything but Effie.**

* * *

_Chapter Six_

Effie had kept her hand firmly attached to Jack's wrist as she dragged him from animal to animal and plant to plant. She had been right about the rabbits; he had been ecstatic, running his hands through their soft fur like he would never experience it again. Thinking about it, without her help, he might not. He had been just as excited about the squirrels and his excitement only grew as they went along. And the look of pure happiness in his eyes when he had leaned in to smell the flowers had made her heart swell.

It felt great to be able to share this, her element, with someone.

They now sat leaning back against the center tree, an eagle perched on the nature spirit's arm. She watched with warm eyes as the young guardian ran his fingers over the feathers. He looked so innocent in his curiosity, almost radiating a purity that she wished she could soak in.

"These feathers are…wow. They remind me of Baby Tooth's." He mumbled thoughtfully, his eyes tracing over the bird.

Effie smiled. "The feathers of a baby goose are even softer."

A quiet laugh came from the winter spirit, and his eyes seemed distant for a moment, almost as if he were remembering something. "I know."

A few moments of silence surrounded them as they focused on the bird. Finally, Effie broke it.

"You're not bad, Frost." She murmured with a smile, running her own hand over the eagle's feathers.

"You're not bad yourself, Nat." He replied, his eyes flashing to hers before going back to the bird. No need for awkward eye contact to ruin the moment.

The red-head quirked an eyebrow. "Nat? You called me that yesterday too."

"It's short for nature; you know, as in Mother Nature."

The nature spirit gave him a dry look. "Loads of fun but no creativity, I see."

Jack feigned a look of hurt. "Hey, that was plenty creative! Would you rather me call you Flytrap?"

She laughed, "Like I said, no creativity."

"I've got loads of creativity!" He cried defensively.

Effie shrugged, trying to bite back her smirk. She rather enjoyed teasing him. "If you say so, Snowball."

"You don't have much creativity, either. I've heard every single nick name you have spit out at me already."

"Really?" She frowned. "Snowflake?"

Jack nodded, trying to hide his own smile now.

"Snowman?"

Another nod.

"Icicle? Frosty? Snow Cone? Snow White? Snow Globe? Snowy? Frostbite?"

Each one got a nod.

Effie groaned in frustration. "Seriously?"

Jack shrugged. "Bunny's been busy. He's trying to get back at me for the blizzard of '68 still."

"What about Flurry? Snow Drift? Ice-cube? He couldn't have come up with everything already!"

Blue eyes turned thoughtful. "Haven't heard Ice-cube before…"

The nature spirit squealed happily, doing a fist pump and sending the eagle flying. The white-haired teen laughed as she grinned sheepishly. "Oops."

They fell into a comfortable silence once more, watching the bird fly away. It felt nice, having someone to banter innocently with, someone to sit with. It was nice not being alone after millennia of being ignored. It wasn't that she could put all the blame on them either; she hadn't really made an effort to interact with anyone else on her part. But she didn't want to admit that she was lonely, she didn't want to come off as pitiful. From how the guardians were treating her, she hadn't quite achieved that.

She wondered briefly, if she agreed to join them, if she would always have the option of company, company she could have a conversation with, if she wouldn't have to feel alone anymore. Maybe she would even get some believers out of it… She pushed the idea out of her head. She wasn't guardian material, and she knew that.

The silence continued. Effie studied the teen beside her from the corner of her eye. She was truly enjoying his company, something she thought she would never say after the many years of him annoying the crap out of her. She felt bad for the many times that she'd blown up at him over the past two days, but he looked so happy now that she felt like she may have been able to make it up to him. His eyes sparkled as they explored the area surrounding them and he radiated a gentle light (she couldn't see it, but she could feel it) that had her clinging to the moment. She never wanted it to end. She felt safe within his light.

She blushed, quickly casting her gaze away from the winter spirit. Her thoughts were heading down a dangerous road. He was pure, he was winter; if she grew attached the shadows would only taint him. The shadows would taint them all. Manny didn't seem to comprehend this. She couldn't be a guardian.

She froze, her eyes locking onto something just before the eastern tree line. Her eyes widened, fear reaching deep into her, twisting her insides. This couldn't be happening. How could they have gotten in? She could only hope that Jack hadn't seen it too…

"What's that?" Jack's voice shattered her tiny hope and her heart plummeted. She had to get him out of there.

She yanked her eyes away from the shadow to stare straight at the young guardian. "What's what?"

The snow spirit pointed to where she had just been looking and she felt heart fall even further. She shouldn't have brought him here. She barely glanced over to where he pointed, looking at him like she didn't know what he was talking about.

He gave her an incredulous look in return, his hand tightening on his staff. "That thing over there; what you were just looking at."

She gave him her best confused look, still pretending like she didn't know what he was talking about. "I don't know what you're talking about; um, I think I should take you back now. It's been fun, but I should be getting back to work now."

She made to grab his hand but he yanked it away, floating just out of her reach. He cast her a look between narrowed eyes. "What are you hiding? What is that thing?"

Effie growled, "It's nothing, and it's time for you to go!"

She lunged for him before he had time to flee towards the shadow, grabbing onto his foot. Her free hand slammed onto the root beside them, sending them fazing through the tree. She knew this would ruin whatever friendship had been forming between them, she knew he would hate her again, but perhaps it was better that way. She didn't need something as pure as snow showing off all of her flaws, anyway. She didn't need company; she didn't need the damned Guardians! She had the animals, what did she need people for?! She'd been fine on her own since the beginning, and she would continue to be fine!

Her heart didn't believe her.

Within moments they were back in the Russian forest. Jack stumbled forward, muttering something under his breath. He didn't look happy.

"What is your problem?! Is that how you treat guests?" He all but shouted at her.

The nature spirit held her ground, green eyes hardening. "I told you it was time for you to go; I'm sorry you were too stubborn to listen!"

The winter spirit growled, gripping his staff dangerously tight. She could tell he was contemplating freezing her with it by how it glowed in the dim lighting of the forest. "I wasn't listening because you were trying to hide that thing! What was that thing?!

"It was nothing; there was nothing; I'm not hiding–"

"BULLSHIT!"

Well, that was certainly not language she had been expecting from a Guardian of Childhood…

"Excuse me?"

"If that thing was nothing, you wouldn't be trying so hard to hide it. What are you hiding?!" He had reached out and was grabbing her arm now. His grip was firm, but he wasn't hurting her. Perhaps she was a masochist, but she would feel better if he was hurting her. It would give her a reason to fight back. It would make her feel less sick to her stomach.

"I told you, I'm not hiding–"

"Stop lying! That thing was a shadow! It was dark! Are you in league with Pitch? Is that what you are trying so hard to hide?"

That hit a nerve. She was completely pissed now. "How dare you accuse me of something so heinous as that!"

Jack narrowed his blue eyes, glaring into her green ones. "Then what are you hiding? You being in league with Pitch is the only thing that makes sense right now!"

Effie glared right back at him. "You seem to forget that Pitch has been gone for 3 years. Funny, since you're one of the people who took him down! And what the hell would I gain from bringing fear to children? I bring life to the planet! I don't go around scaring children! I would gain nothing from an alliance with Pitch! The man isn't even around anymore, so let's just double that nothing!"

"Then just what was that shadow?"

"Nothing, and you are done concerning yourself over it." She seethed.

"I don't know what Manny was thinking. You aren't Guardian material."

The words stung much more than they should have. He'd told her the same thing before…she'd even been thinking the same thing just minutes ago. Still, the words sunk in with a bitter pain. She looked up into his eyes, hoping that she was hiding the hurt she was feeling. "Leave."

A chilling wind blew through the trees, knocking snow off of the branches and kicking up loose snow from the ground. Her visibility was skewed momentarily, but she could still see the anger in his eyes; it chilled her through to her core. She took an unsteady step back, her back hitting a tree.

He flew off in a whirlwind, and she watched with a knot in her gut. Her eyes watered as he disappeared into the distance, and though she tried to blame it on the snow and cold, she knew it was a lie. She didn't know how it had all gone downhill. One moment they were getting along, the next they were on a downward spiral. It rested heavy in her stomach.

All because the shadows wouldn't leave her alone.

She angrily fazed through the tree, finding herself back in her Sanctuary. She scanned the area, but the shadow was no longer there. The nature spirit screamed out in frustration, her eyes furiously searching the land.

"Show yourself!" She screamed.

Only silence met her cry. The weather began to tip, wind and clouds came in from nowhere, casting a gloomy and dangerous look over the domain. Rain began to drip from the sky and thunder shook the ground. The animals took to the trees as Effie screamed.

"I said show yourself! How dare you enter my domain! This is my place, my home! You are not welcome here!" Her voice broke as she crumbled to the ground, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"You're not welcome here," she cried, slapping her hand to the ground. "You're not welcome here."

* * *

It was completely dark, not a single light shining in the dark confines of the underground cavern. The shadows resided here, unseen in the darkness but still there, shifting restlessly. They were tired of hiding in tunnels and caverns and lurking in corners, not able to truly feed from the humans. Negative emotions were there life force and adults were full of them: regret, hate, resentment, it was a buffet ready for the taking. But the shadows couldn't fully attach themselves to the adults; they were surrounded by light, both literal and figurative, and they could only be in the light for a short amount of time.

There first attempt to rid the world of its annoying light had failed. Pitch had failed in extinguishing the biggest source of light: the innocence of children. Children were the biggest reason why they had to hide in corners and caves and fear had seemed the best way to rid the world of that restricting light. But no, those retched Guardians of Childhood had ruined everything, reducing their creation into nothing. The shadows would get their revenge though. They would tear the Guardians apart and the light would shatter.

A hushed murmur echoed through the cavern, the tension in the air almost tangible. Things in their plans weren't going as they should.

'_A bright light? What do you mean by this?'_

"_She was surrounded by a bright light! She was untouchable! I could not feed off her doubt and fear."_

'**_Where did this light come from? Her own has nearly been put out.'_**

"_The boy. It came from the boy. The winter spirit."_

"**JACK FROST!"**

The shadows hissed and whispered, their voices mingling into a hum as they fought among themselves. They couldn't have their biggest source of power tainted by that disgusting light. She was needed. She was their tool!

'_His light burns brighter than most. He must be dealt with.'_

'**_Attempts were made; Pitch failed to tarnish his light.'_**

"**_Pitch was weak! We must send another! Surely his fears are many, and he would prove to be more valuable than Efthalia."_**

"_Efthalia has been around longer, her negative emotions run deeper than any of the others. No one can prove more valuable than her! She fuels us all!"_

'_But winter brings fear and the cold brings death; he could help us rid the world of the light.'_

'**_Nature brings just as much fear and heat just as much death; she is already so weak. She'll soon be ours. The boy is too strong, too bright.'_**

'_She has proven to be stronger than we thought; a hundred years and she is still not ours! Our target should be the boy! His light is the biggest threat, he is the most valuable. He is younger, he'll be easier to break.'_

'**_Pitch was our strongest creation. If he could not taint his light, then no one will. We cannot even approach him while his light is so bright. Your plan is flawed; our target should remain as the girl!'_**

**_"Pitch's attempts were pitiful. Surely if we tried hard enough, we could break him!"_**

_"His light is too strong, too bright. None of us can approach him."_

"SILENCE!" The voice sliced through the air. Power resonated from the voice, casting an eerie stillness over the small space.

The shadows waited silently for the voice to continue. Not a single one of them dared to speak or move. This voice was not to be disobeyed.

"Efthalia remains our target. You are not to be deterred by these interferences! If you do your jobs as you are supposed to, then we shall have her soon enough. Our flower will prove to be a most valuable asset in our plans. The Guardians are nothing more than an annoyance, but they will soon be dealt with." There was a hushed murmur of agreement as the shadows listened. The voice continued, "The snow spirit is to be dealt with now. He will ruin everything we have worked for if you continue to let him near her. Keep them apart in whatever way possible! We can't have him heal her light."

"**_Winter is death, how can he heal her?"_**

**The shadows shifted in anxious fear as they slid away from the one who had dared to speak out. The voice spoke, seemingly unperturbed by the shadow's question.**

"Winter is not death, my dear friend. On the contrary, winter is the much needed rest in the cycle of nature. It cleans out the filth, purifies the land, and heals what has been tainted. It is dangerous and must be kept away from our sweet flower. Now that the boy is a part of those annoying guardians, his light is much too bright and clean; it will heal our little Efthalia if we let it too close to her. Now my dear friend," A grunt of pain came from within the darkness, "never question me again."

An ear piercing scream echoed all through the cavern until there was only a sickening silence.

* * *

North was supposed to take his side! He was supposed to be skeptical instead of telling him not to worry about it. Was he the only sane one on this planet?! Weren't they all supposed to be wary of things like strange shadows lurking in the middle of fields? Why the hell was North not worried about this?!

Jack grumbled angrily as he rode the air currents to Burgess. He needed to let off some steam. When North said that there wasn't anything to worry about, he usually believed him (the big man's gut had a strange record of being right), but he was having a hard time believing him this time. He needed someone to help clear his mind, and there was no one better for that than his buddy Jamie.

It wasn't long before he found himself at the 12-year-old's window. He smiled, seeing that it was open a crack. It was a habit that the boy had gotten into three years ago. He would always leave his window open a crack for the guardian, to let him know that he was always welcome and believed in. It warmed Jack's heart to have such a caring believer.

He opened the window farther and climbed into the warm room. Jamie's parents had to be paying a butt load on heating since the kid always had his window open. His constant presence certainly couldn't be helping either. As soon as his feet touched the floor, arms were wrapped around his waist with such a force that he was almost knocked over. The winter spirit laughed as he wrapped his own arms around the younger boy. It was nice that Jamie was always so excited to see him.

"Hey bud, shouldn't you be asleep? It's almost midnight." Jack asked, trying to feign a mature attitude. In truth, he was happy the boy was still up. He hadn't quite thought through what he would do if the kid was asleep.

"If I was asleep, I wouldn't be able to hang out with you! And tomorrow is Saturday! I shouldn't have to go to bed!" Jamie whined.

"Oh, that's right, it's Easter weekend."

The young boy bounced, brown eyes twinkling as he nodded his head with his excitement. "And then next week is Spring Break! You're going to come and play with us right? Are you going to make it snow?"

Jack smiled the boy's excitement. "I could probably come and play but the snow would upset–" the smile turned mischievous as an idea popped into his head. "Yeah, I'll make it snow. I might even extend your break, but it'll just have to wait till after Easter."

"Awesome!"

The spirit chuckled. "Nat won't even see it coming."

He had said it more so to himself, but Jamie still heard him. "Nat? Who's that?"

Oh yeah, wasn't that the reason he came here in the first place? To rant a bit about the annoying nature spirit? Jack plopped himself down on the 12-year-old's bed, a slight scowl forming on his face.

"Mother Nature; a no-good, annoying woman who doesn't know how to have fun."

Brown eyes widened as the boy leaned forward. "Mother Nature is real?"

"Yeah, and I'm not entirely sure she's good. She's hiding something, I know she is! But I don't know what." Jack grumbled, falling backwards on the bed.

"That's so cool! What kind of stuff does she do? Is her name really Mother Nature?" Jamie babbled. He obviously had some selective hearing issues there.

The guardian gave the kid a quizzical glance. "Did you hear anything that I just said?"

The kid just looked at him expectantly. Jack sighed and sat back up. "I don't know much about her, but um, she can make the plants grow and faze through trees…" Oh wow…he really knew almost nothing about her. Weren't Guardians supposed to know their enemies (yes, he was determining her guilty until proven innocent)? He'd have to ask the others what they knew about her. "And her name's Efthalia, though she seems to prefer being called Effie."

Jamie seemed to be enthralled, even if it was very vague information, and Jack wasn't sure if he liked how interested his believer was in the nature spirit. He wasn't sure where Effie stood in her allegiance, and he sure as hell didn't want his first believer anywhere near the spirit until he could figure it out.

"What does she look like?" The 12-year-old asked.

Jack scratched the top of his head. "Um, about my height, just a little shorter. She's got wavy red hair that reaches down to her waist that always seems to be moving…sort of like fire I guess. Her eyes are green, almost emerald in color I think. Uh, her skin is a tanned olive color, maybe even a little darker, and she wears this white shirt-dress thing – it looks like it might be Greek, but I don't really know – and green leggings underneath. She's also barefoot…like me." He didn't mention that her hair looked as soft as silk or that her eyes sparkled when she smiled; those were details that he was trying to ignore.

"Wow…" Jamie sighed, "She sounds beautiful…"

Jack raised an eyebrow at the kid. "Aren't you a little young to be thinking that girls are beautiful. Shouldn't they still have cooties?"

"I'm 12 years old, basically a grown up! And girls _are_ gross, but she's not a girl, she's a woman!" The boy replied, trying to take on a deeper voice to make himself seem more grown up.

Both eyebrows shot up. "You haven't even seen her…" The spirit stated.

"I don't have to, to know that she's beautiful! And when I do meet her, it'll be amazing." Jamie's eyes seemed to be sparkling.

"Uh…no. You won't be meeting her."

Jamie pointed an accusatory finger at the spirit. "You're just jealous!"

"Wha? Of What?!"

"You're afraid that she'll like me more than you. You like her too!" The boy accused.

Jack was flabbergasted. "No, I don't! Good grief! Jamie, you're 12, and human! She wouldn't go for a kid like you. And you shouldn't want her to! I told you I don't think she's one of the good guys!"

"See? You're jealous! You don't want to share!"

The guardian threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. He was so confused to how the situation had escalated to this. Jamie was supposed to take his side, not form some weird and random crush on the nature spirit. He was trying to warn the kid, maybe even gain some support here, and the kid had formed a freaking crush! Jamie didn't even know Effie!

Jack fell backwards again. "I give up."

Jamie laughed and climbed onto his bed. He poked the spirit in the side and laughed again as he squirmed. "She can't be as bad as you think she is. I mean, she's Mother Nature, she makes the flowers grow. She's gotta be good. Maybe you misunderstood something?"

The winter spirit let out a sigh. Who knew wisdom from a kid would make so much sense? He was glad he had decided to stop by. "Maybe you're right."

"You're still going to make it snow next week though, right?" The young boy inquired.

Jack grinned, poking the kid on the head with his staff. "Of course!"

* * *

**Oh wow, this chapter was hard to get started, but once I did, the words just flowed out of me. I would like to thank Raika-chan, MinnieTheMoocher and Nazo-san for the reviews on my last chapter. It really helped to push me to get this chapter out. As I said at the beginning of the chapter, I have been busy, but I've been working on this story with whatever time I can find, just for you guys. So, I hadn't planned on Jamie forming a crush, but it sort of came out that way. No, I'm not going to make him annoying with the crush, in fact, I don't even really see it as a crush crush, more of a fascination, or at least that was it will turn into when I finally have the two meet. Um, I don't have much else to say… Review and tell me what you think, whether you liked, what you thinks needs improvement, the likes. I'll try to update soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

Effie was proving to be an enigma. Over the past two days Jack had gone to see North, Tooth and Sandy, and none of them seemed to have any specific information on Mother Nature. It was entirely frustrating! North hadn't been around when she was human, or during her first 500 or so years, possibly longer since the old man couldn't seem to remember. Tooth came about 100 years after North, thus having none of the nature spirit's memories in her possession, and she had been dealing with her own problems to be paying attention to other immortals at the time. Jack could understand that, but it didn't mean it annoyed him any less.

Sandy was the only one who had been around longer than Effie, and he had seemed willing to help out, but Jack could only make out a third of the signs whirling above the short man's head before he just gave up. The dream guardian had said something about a volcano…at least that's what the winter spirit had thought he'd seen. It didn't help him much at all. What did a volcano have to do with anything?

The fact that he couldn't find any information on the nature spirit was annoying him to no end. His suspicion of her actions had died down after visiting Jamie, but they were still there, however slight now. He still wanted information on her; the information would prove to be useful one way or another. Since the moon never answered any of his questions, Bunnymund was his last hope. North had stated about a week ago that the Pooka was the closest to the red head.

Jack rode the wind as it carried him towards the entrance to the Warren. The entrances where never easy to find, and they were always located in warm locations, much to the winter spirit's dismay, but he'd found almost every entrance over the three years he'd been a guardian. Much to Bunny's dismay.

The spirit found himself inside the lush green tunnels of the Warren only moments later, navigating them with practiced ease. He often came down to mess with the large rabbit, but he also came down to help out with preparations for Easter every once and a while. Despite the occasional bickering, the two of them had gotten a lot closer. They had formed a sort of sibling like bond.

The Warren was very quiet now. It was the day after Easter and no eggs were left among the tunnels and paths. It almost seemed lonely without all of the bright and colorful eggs skittering about. Jack had to agree with Bunny when he said that they were adorable…

Bunny was resting under a tree when the spirit found him. Jack almost felt bad for disturbing the Pooka's much needed and well deserved rest, but at the same time, he really wanted his answers. He wanted them now. He poked the sleeping rabbit with his staff in an attempt to wake him. Bunny simply batted the stick away and rolled over, causing the spirit to frown.

"Oi, Kangaroo, I need to talk to you!" The young guardian said, poking the bunny again.

Bunnymund groaned, but didn't move. "I'm too tired t'deal with ya, Mate. Come back when I ain't sleepin'."

Jack crouched down beside the rabbit. "I could, but I'd much rather talk to you now."

"I'd rather sleep now." Bunny replied bluntly.

"I could help you wake up…" The winter spirit suggested, a snowball forming in his hand.

"Don't you bloody dare–"

The snowball left his hand, landing on the side of the Pooka's face. Bunny sat up with a jolt, dusting the cold substance off of his face desperately. He turned angry green eyes onto the winter spirit, while Jack just grinned triumphantly.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?!" Bunny growled.

Jack shrugged and stood, swinging his staff over his shoulders. "I told you that I needed to talk to you." As if that was all the explanation that he needed.

"Just what's so important that it couldn't bloody wait? For your sake, I hope someone's dying!" The Pooka yelled.

Jack gasped, feigning shock and hurt at Bunny's words. "What an awful thing to say! And you call yourself a guardian?"

Bunnymund was not amused.

The young guardian huffed, plopping himself down on a rock across from the rabbit. "I was hoping you could give me some information on Mother Nature."

This got him a dry look from the other guardian. "You mean to say that ya woke me cause you wanted some information?"

Jack nodded. "Yep."

Bunny shot him a dirty look. "You're a bloody pain in my arse, Frostbite."

The younger guardian grinned at him in reply. "I try."

"What makes ya think I know anything? Why don't ya go ask Sandy or somethin'? I'm sure the others could tell ya something about the Shelia."

Jack shook his head. "I already asked all of them. Sandy looked like he may have known something, but I could only make out a third of what he was saying. Besides, North said you were the closest one to her."

The Pooka groaned, running a paw over his face. Close was an exaggeration, he knew next to nothing about the Sheila. All he had over the others was that he spoke to her a little more often than the rest. The kid obviously wasn't going to leave until he told him something. though. "Fine, I don't know much, but what do you want to know?"

"Is she evil?" No point in beating around the bush anymore; this was what he really wanted to know anyway.

Bunny laughed in disbelief. "Is she what? Blimey, where in the world did you get an idea like that?"

"I saw a shadow—"

"You saw a shadow…you're worse than the bloody Groundhog."

Jack glared at the rabbit. "This wasn't just _any_ shadow, _mate_. It was in the middle of a field—"

"And you're sure it wasn't just a bird flying over head?"

The winter spirit growled, "Would you _please_ stop interrupting me?"

"Yeah, yeah. My apologies, Frosty, for interrupting while you're in the middle of something." Bunny's voice dripped with irony but Jack paid it no heed.

"It wasn't a bird. All the birds were sitting in the trees, and the shadow was shaped like a person, but there wasn't anyone else there beside me and Effie."

Bunny gave the young spirit an incredulous look. "Sure ya weren't seeing things?"

Icy blue eyes were glaring again. "If I were just seeing things, then why was she trying so hard to hide it? She even kicked me out of her sanctuary!"

"That's probably because she doesn't like ya…w-wait! Ya got to see her Sanctuary?!" The Pooka asked, mouth agape. No one had ever seen Effie's home. He knew she had one, she would mention it once in a while during their polite conversations, but from what he understood, she didn't let anyone in to see it. How did the twerp get the honor of seeing it?

"Yeah," Jack shrugged, "What's the big deal?"

"Sheila doesn't let anyone in there, Snowball."

Jack let that sink in for a moment. If she didn't let anyone in there, then why in the world would she let him enter? They'd been doing nothing but fight since they met at North's workshop. She did say that she felt bad for all those fights, it could have been her form of an apology, but she'd made it clear that she didn't like him very much. He'd made it clear to her that the feelings were mutual. How did he get invited in?

"That still doesn't explain why she was trying to hide the shadow." He muttered. Maybe it had been some elaborate trap...

The Pooka let out a sigh. "She's not evil, bud. Manny wouldn't choose her as a guardian if she was evil."

That was true, but it didn't make Jack feel any better. He still had no idea what the shadow was or what it meant. North had been the only one who seemed to react at the news of the shadow, but he still didn't give up any info on it. He knew something but wasn't telling, and Jack was getting more and more upset. There was a threat here, and no one was doing a thing about it!

"Then what was that shadow thing?"

"It was probably just a normal bloody shadow and you're making a big deal about nothing. Now, Mate, if that's all you needed, I'm going back to sleep." Bunnymund lied back down, turning away from the winter spirit.

Jack glared as he stood and walked away from the useless rabbit. Yet another miss. He'd found nothing on the nature spirit yet again. MiM could've been wrong; there could still be a chance that she was bad. Not likely, but then why would she hide that shadow if not to protect it? Bunny was wrong too, it wasn't a normal shadow! He wasn't making a big deal out of nothing! Man, was he frustrated!

Once he was above ground again, he shot a flash of ice at a nearby tree. It made him feel a little better but not by much. He knew Bunny was right, that the Moon wouldn't have chosen her if she wasn't good for the children, but he couldn't seem to come up with a reason for the shadow. What was the deal with that shadow?

* * *

Effie sucked in a deep breath, enjoying the crisp chill from the left over traces of winter in the night air. She would never tell anyone this, but she loved winter. It was her favorite time of the year. She loved how clean and pure everything was, how the world was at peace as it slept under its blanket of snow. She often escaped to the colder places of the world during late spring and summer, enjoying the break in the heat. She hated the heat; it only brought back bad memories.

Most of the snow had melted in the suburb that she walked through now. It was somewhere in central Ohio, the exact name she wasn't sure of, but it was a nice place. She brought buds to the bushes and trees as she traveled through, helping little flowers to begin popping out of the ground. She gave special attention to the gardens where she knew the kids had planted their own flowers or vegetables. The children would be thrilled when their plants were fully grown and healthy. Effie always enjoyed the smiles on their faces when they learned that they had grown something that amazing all on their own.

The nature spirit headed towards one of the main roads that ran through the town. This town enjoyed their flowers; this road was covered with patches of dirt and hanging pots of flowers on both sides. Each year she made the flowers bloom beautiful shades of pinks, whites and violets. It was always a beautiful sight in spring and summer, and it always smelled heavenly, especially with the added smell of fresh bread from the bakery. With how much she enjoyed this place, she would think she'd be able to remember the name…it started with a "W" she believed…

Bright gold sand trailed across the night, breaking her from her thoughts. Green eyes traced the paths of the sand, mesmerized by the magic of it, even after all of the years she'd been around. It always amazed her as she yearned to brush her hands through it and follow it to the windows of the sleeping children and know what sort of dreams Sandy had made for the night. Her curiosity was piqued every time she saw the sand, but she was always too busy to appease it.

Something moved from the corner of her eye, yanking her attention away from the glittering sand. Her eyes searched the darkness, her guard suddenly up and her gut twisting uneasily. She knew the three days of peace had been too good to be true. Three days of no nightmares, of no lingering shadows, there was no way it would have lasted. The presence moved again, darting behind her. The red head spun, but she couldn't spot it; it was there though, she knew it was.

"Efthalia, why so guarded? Is this how you treat old friends?"

The voice curled around her like fine silk, clinging to her like sugar. It made her feel sick. She searched the darkness around her for the source, but she found nothing. It was like it was everywhere, yet nowhere.

"Show yourself," Effie growled.

"Your temper won't get you anywhere, Efthalia; you know that." The voice tsked. It came from a more definite position behind her and she whirled around, but still, she saw nothing. She was getting tired of this game real quick.

"Just leave me alone!"

"You know I can't do that, Efthalia. You're too special for me to leave you alone."

The voice was different this time, making the spirit's heart clench in agony. She knew that voice; she hated when the shadows used that voice. It broke her heart and shattered her will every time. There was movement from the corner of her eye again and she turned her head slowly, hoping that it wouldn't disappear out of sight yet again. Though she soon regretted that thought.

There in the dark stood a young teen in ancient Greek clothing, dark curly hair pinned back and golden brown eyes that seemingly glowed with their own light. Effie felt her world shatter as she looked upon the girl. This was something new, something they had never done before. The shadows were going all out tonight. She clenched her chest as her legs shook and her eyes stung. This was cruel.

"Letha," it was a mere whisper.

"Oh, so you do remember this face! That's good to know since you forgot all about me and Gia for the first hundred or so years. You were too busy being worshipped to worry about what you left behind. You don't know how our lives turned out or if we even survived that night." The teen taunted.

"You're wrong, I saw the records. Both you and Gia lived long lives. You got married, you had children. You made it to the mainland." The nature spirit murmured, trying to reassure herself of the details.

Letha laughed. "Records lie, dear sister. You know this."

Effie flinched, taking a step away from the creature that looked like her sister. Letha gave her a dark smile as she took a step forward. "You know very well, Efthalia, that Gia and I suffered in your absence. You abandoned us."

The red-head took another step back, trying to gather her anger, shaking her head as she denied the accusation. This wasn't her sister! Her sister had lived a good and long life! She had saved them that night! "St-stop! You aren't Letha! You aren't my sister! Stop using her form!" She inwardly cringed at the sound of her weak voice and the shadow laughed at her as it shifted forms.

Mother Nature's heart almost stopped.

"What do you think of this form?"

A little girl now stood before her with a mass of dark curls and the same golden brown eyes as the previous form had. A near evil smile was placed upon the 6-year-old's face as she bounced where she stood in the shadows. This was pure torture as tears slipped from the spirit's eyes. It had been 2,300 years since she'd seen the sweet face of her youngest sister. Her heart ached as she looked upon the young girl's face and her blood began to boil. How dare they mar the face of her Gia with their darkness?

"Don't you dare use these shapes! Don't you dare mar their beauty and insult their lives with your darkness!" Effie seethed, her hand snaking to the pouch attached at her hip.

The shadow replica laughed her sister's laugh, swaying from side to side. "The regret and sorrow that is dripping off of you is absolutely delicious, Efthalia. Feed me more until your light is no more!"

The nature spirit flexed her hands at the child like giggle that escaped the shadow-child. It was her sister's giggle, but it wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be that dark; it wasn't supposed to be filled with wickedness. _That isn't your sister,_ she reminded herself. Her sister had lived a good and long life.

"What's wrong, _sister_? Have nothing more to say?" The shadow asked with fake innocence.

Effie had had enough. A thorned vine shot out, firmly wrapping itself around the shadow replica's leg. Dark liquid seeped from the leg of the shadow child as it screeched in anger and pain. It glared at the spirit as she gave a tug on the vine, making the thorns cut deeper into the creature's leg. A satisfied smirk spread across Effie's lips, but it was short lived at the shadow replica dissipated into a dark mass and her vine fell limp.

"You will regret that, sweet little Efthalia." The original voice seethed.

Effie gave a mocking laugh, trying to swallow the bit of fear that lurked in the pit of her being, "Give me your best shot!"

"As you wish."

The shadow shot out from all angles at alarming speed, ripping at her arms and legs. She could feel the sharp edges of whatever weapon the shadow was using slice through her skin, drawing traces of her blood and ripping her clothes. The cuts varied in their intensity, some only nicking the skin while others tore through muscle. It hurt more than anyone could imagine, but she didn't make a sound or budge a muscle. She endured it in silent agony though she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer; her body was weakening and the pain was only getting worse.

"Have you had enough?" Asked the silky voice after leaving a particularly nasty gash.

Effie smirked and wiped a bit of blood off her lip. Her body screamed at the movement and her stomach churned as the pain and blood loss started to make her queasy. She wasn't going to give the shadows the satisfaction of her surrender, though. "Not even close."

The shadow took on the voice of Letha again as it cooed at her. "It's only a matter of time, Efthalia."

She tried to keep from flinching as the onslaught began again. Her eyelids began to get heavier as she lost more and more blood, and the notion of surrendering was becoming more and more tempting. The sharp edge sliced through her skin again and again, but still, she didn't back down. The shadows had done similar physical attacks before, but never as brutal as this one. This attack was going to kill her if she didn't do something soon.

The skin on her cheek was sliced, almost knocking her off balance as she braced herself for another hit. The hit never came though. Golden sand shot through the sky, slicing through the darkness of the ally way. The shadow hissed and screeched in pain as the light from the sand lit up the small space. It tried lashing out, trying to cut at the sand, but the glow of the sand only seemed to hurt it as it tried to retreat from the light. There was nowhere to retreat to in the no longer dark ally, though. It tried to lash out again, only to fail. The sand speared itself through the shadow as it gave one final screech before retreating weakly into the night.

Effie gave a shaky laugh as she stumbled towards one of the walls. The sand swirled around her, trying to keep her steady. She smiled at the gentle assistance, but the smile quickly turned into a grimace as pain shot through her. She all but fell against the brick wall, hissing in pain as her back came into contact with the rough surface. Blood continually oozed from her open wounds, though the smallest of the cuts were already beginning to heal. It would take her a few days to fully recover from this one.

The nature spirit looked over herself, inspecting the full sum of damage she'd taken. Her arms were a mess, as were her legs and probably her face as well. Her torso had received some damage too, but not near as much as the rest of her body. Her clothes were a mess as well, the leggings little more than scraps of cloth now; they were going to need some serious mending. She knew it was only a matter of time before Sandy himself showed up; he was in for one hell of a fright. How was she going to convince him that she was fine when she looked like this?

She wasn't fine.

But she couldn't pull someone else into this. She was handling this well enough on her own…at the very least she was surviving it. This was her battle, her fight. No one else had to go down with her. No one else deserved to go through what she was going through. She could only hope that the shadows wouldn't take their anger out on the Guardians for interfering with their attack.

She felt the dream guardian's presence before she saw him. He radiated warmth, both figuratively and literally. His dream sand was like the sun warmed sand on a beach. She tried to give the small man a reassuring smile though it looked more like a pained grimace than anything else. Sandy looked at her with concerned eyes, coming to float right next to her as he looked her over.

"I'm okay; it's nothing that I won't recover from." Her voice sounded weak and she knew the Sandman wasn't convinced.

A few signs formed over the guardian's head. It took her a few moments before she got the general gist of what he was trying to say, or at least what she thought he was trying to say. _We need to get you help._ She shook her head. She was an idiot, she knew that. She should accept the help, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I'll be fine. I have my own assortment of medicines—" She broke off into a hiss as Sandy gently touched the tender skin of her arm, inspecting the damage for himself. She wasn't lying about having medicine that would help, she had a vast knowledge of healing plants, but there was no way in hell she was going to be able to move any time soon to get to that medicine. She just had to be in the one alley way that didn't have a single tree.

Sandy gave her a 'we both know you aren't going anywhere' look and the nature spirit let out a sigh. Effie merely submitted herself to the inspection of the stout guardian, trying to hide the twinges of pain that would zing through her every time he would touch an especially tender spot. She could feel a dash of his magic dance over her skin as she sat there, cleaning out her wounds. The dream guardian had many tricks up his sleeve, one of them being a minor healing magic.

The Sandman stepped back from Mother Nature, some more signs appearing above his head. The only one she understood was the compass facing north. She shook her head again. She wouldn't be able to handle a trip to the North Pole. She didn't want to go to the North Pole. She didn't want the Guardians any more involved than they already were. Besides, her mind was in a fragile state; she didn't want someone to witness another one of her breakdowns.

"Really, Sandy, I'll be fine." Effie gave a small smile, struggling to stand up, accepting the help the Sandman gave her. "I just need help getting to a tree. Really, I'll be okay. I just need to get home."

Sandy frowned but helped her none the less. The few steps out of the alley way felt like a mile, but eventually they came to one of the many saplings that lined the main road of this part of the suburb…Westerville, that was the name of this suburb. She could have laughed at how she was remembering that only now.

Effie let go of the dream guardian, all but falling towards the tree. "Thanks, Sandy." She was grateful for more than just the help. She was also thankful that he hadn't asked about the shadow; it was as if he knew that he wouldn't get an answer out of her anyway. Sandy replied with a nod of his head and a small smile before she fazed through the tree.

* * *

Jack touched down on the fresh, soft green grass of Burgess. The sun was high in the sky and the air was warm with the traces of spring. A smirk spread across his face as he made his way through the park he'd landed in, staff trailing behind him as frost spread across the ground. Jamie had said he'd be in the park for most of the week, but Jack didn't see him. Seeing as it was around noon, the 12-year-old was probably at home eating lunch with his little sister.

The winter spirit smiled. He'd have a little surprise for the boy when he was done eating. With a swish of his staff the temperature began to drop, snow drifting from the sky as the wind began to pick up a bit. The snow began to stick the ground almost instantly, beginning to white out the green grass. Spring weather didn't do much for him anyhow; it was much too warm for his liking.

Not too far away from where he stood, Effie knelt cautiously beside a flower bed. Most of her wounds had closed up over the night, leaving dark bruises in their wake. There were still a few scabbed over gashes, the worst of the wounds that she had received, but they were considerably smaller than they had been. It made her grateful to the Moon and Earth that she was an immortal.

The red-head flinched as she reached out to touch the batch of budding daisies. It hurt immensely to move and her body ached every time she shifted even a little bit. It would have been wise for her to have rested, but she had to do her job or the Earth would be upset with her. Just as she was about to touch the baby stems of the flowers, her elbow on the arm supporting her gave out, sending her rolling onto her back. She hissed in pain as several of her bruises were hit along the way.

The nature spirit let out a sigh as she lay there. She couldn't seem to find the energy to get herself back up as she watched the clouds roll in from seemingly nowhere. Huh…she hadn't been aware that it was supposed to rain. Could her day possibly get any worse?

Apparently so.

What fell on her nose wasn't a drop of rain, but a snowflake. It was snowing…in April. The temperature had been in the high 40's a few moments ago, but she noticed now that it had dropped considerably. A cold wind blew, throwing a few more snowflakes into her face. A bitter laugh passed through her lips as she forced herself into a standing position.

"Damn it, Ice-cube!" Effie muttered to herself as she slowly made her way to the part of the park that the children usually played in. She had a feeling that was where she was going to find the young guardian. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do, much less say to the guy. She obviously wasn't in any sort of shape to pick a physical fight, and she really didn't have the energy for a vocalized one, but she was not in the mood to just let this go. It had taken her all flipping morning to get what little she did get done, done! She did _not_ need an immature spirit ruining her hard work!

She limped out into the open expanse of what should be green but was now white, and sure enough, there he was: Jack Frost in all of his annoying glory.

"What the hell is your problem, Frost?"

The voice was definitely that of Effie's, but it sounded much weaker than he remembered it to be. Jack whirled around to face the nature spirit, grin slipping from his face as he took in her battered form. Her arms and legs were covered in dark green bruises and dark circles rested beneath her eyes, and her green sundress did nothing to hide any of it (it was odd seeing her in an actual dress). Jack felt all of his mischievousness slip away from him as unwanted concern bubbled within him.

"You look like crap," was the first thing out of his mouth.

Once again, not something that a girl wanted to hear.

* * *

**I'm sorry this took so long for me to write. This is my Christmas gift to all of you. I made it extra long, and I promise that the next one will be out sooner than a week. I already have it all planned out! I hope you guys enjoy this one; tell me what you think: whether you like it, what you think could be improved, any suggestions you might have, the likes. Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Holidays to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. I hope all of your winter holidays are magnificent!**

**CeeCee-chi **


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

"Thanks, that's wonderful to know." Effie replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. Her voice sounded raspy and strained, nothing like the strong and feminine voice she usually had.

Jack looked her up and down, finding that he really didn't like what he was seeing. She literally looked like she'd been to war this time. She was favoring one leg and he could see a long gash running up the side of it. She was swaying slightly, looking as if one strong gust of wind would knock her over completely. Where could she have received all of those injuries?

After a few moments he finally found his voice.

"What happened?"

The nature spirit limped a little closer and Jack had a hard time not going over to help her. "I fell from the heavens and hit every damn branch of the ugly tree on the way down."

Jack resisted the urge to smile, "I'm being serious."

Effie gave a curt, bitter laugh. "What makes you think that I'm not?"

He gave her a humorless look which she returned double fold, a hint of hurt in her eyes.

"Why the concern, Ice-cube? I thought I was the enemy." She bit out, the irritation evident in her voice.

She was still angry with him…he supposed he deserved that. His words had been pretty harsh. Looking at her now, he could see that he'd been wrong in accusing her. "Was it the shadow?"

She visibly tensed, her eyes darting to meet his. Either he was close or he'd hit the nail on the head. Jack's mind started reeling; spirits and immortals were fast healers, and that had been three to four days ago that he'd seen the shadow. If she was still in this sort of condition, she must have been near death. He found himself really hoping that he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't the shadow, maybe she hadn't just tensed and he was seeing things, or maybe he was misreading her body language… For some reason, he really didn't want to think of her being in that bad of a shape.

"No, it wasn't that," her reply interrupted his train of thought.

He gave her a skeptical look, feeling no comfort at her strained reply. There was something she wasn't saying. "Then what was it?"

Effie didn't like the tension in the air. She didn't like that she was being interrogated. What was she thinking, trying to pick a fight when she looked like this? Of course he was going to ask questions. She should have just let it be; she was rather enjoying the snow and cold air as it was. It felt wonderful against her tender skin. But no, she couldn't just let all of her hard work go to waste, though there was nothing she could really do about that now; there was a layer of snow everywhere. She'd have to start all over at this rate anyhow! She should've just gone home and come back tomorrow when she was better.

Her stupid stubborn streak really pissed her off sometimes.

"I told you, I fell from the heavens—" She was cut off by a chilling glare from the winter spirit. Obviously he wasn't finding her joke very funny.

"What did this to you?" His voice was firm and his expression was serious, his blue eyes showing a concern that she wasn't quite sure how she felt about. She tensed again in defense; she didn't do very well with confrontation. He'd been correct about a shadow attacking her, though she wasn't sure if it had been the shadow he was thinking of (there were so many shadows), but she wasn't going to involve him in it.

"Once again, Frost, why the concern? It's no danger to you or the other Guardians"

Jack was getting really frustrated. How could someone be so annoyingly stubborn?! He could've sworn that she was even worse than him! Maybe that was what her center was: stubbornness! He wasn't feeling any guilt over the snow anymore.

"Manny chose you for a reason, making you our concern. If you're in danger—"

Effie cut off the winter spirit with a scoff "We both know Moon Man made a mistake, and I'm not in any danger. Besides, hadn't you deemed me as the _enemy_?"

He'd never hit a girl before, but he was finding it very tempting to hit her. If she didn't look like she'd keel over, he would hit her with one of his special snowballs. Her bitter demeanor was really in the need of some fun and happiness.

"The Moon wasn't wrong—"

"That's certainly the opposite of what you told me a few days ago." She muttered bitterly.

If she cut him off one more time…!

He narrowed his eyes as he swallowed his pride. "I know, and…I'm sorry."

_That_ caught her off guard. The nature spirit blinked a few times, her voice abandoning her as she gazed dazedly at the white-haired teen before her. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, a weight she hadn't really been aware of. She had tried to tell herself that it didn't matter what he thought of her, but apparently the words had done nothing for her; she did care what he thought, what all of them thought of her. She let out a slow breath as she shifted her eyes to look into his.

"What made you change your mind? Your first opinion could still be right." She mumbled, her voice losing the bitterness of before, almost soundly breathless.

Jack rubbed the back of his head as he cast his gaze downwards, shuffling his feet a little in the still deepening snow. He didn't quite like how…awkward the atmosphere seemed to have gotten after his little apology. Honestly, he would've preferred to start another fight, but that would only make things worse.

"I was wrong…" The words were difficult for him to get out, "The Moon isn't wrong about you, because he wasn't wrong about me."

He half expected a snide remark or a laugh in response to his comment, but only silence met his ears. He glanced up at her, panic spiking in him as he saw her eyes begin to water. How was he supposed to handle a crying girl? Children like his little sister and Sophie were one thing, but Effie, she was a 2,000 something year old teen-aged spirit. How did someone go about comforting that?

"Uh…" Jack started, but Effie quickly cut him off, blinking away the water in her eyes.

"Um…apology accepted, I guess." She said. She wanted so badly to believe that he was right, that the Man in the Moon was right about her, but she felt tainted. She wasn't pure like winter, like him; she had shadows clinging to her and a darkness that she just couldn't shake.

The winter spirit took a few steps closer to the red-head, gingerly reaching out to touch her arm. When she didn't back away, he took that as permission, gently touching a bruise on her arm, suddenly feeling very protective of the nature spirit. "Please tell me what did this to you; we can help you."

Effie shook her head, barely suppressing that shiver that threatened to travel through her body at his touch. It felt so good against her skin that she was finding it hard not to lean into it, and it wasn't helping her against her struggle against falling back and rolling around in the snow underneath her feet. "I can't."

He could hear the strain and pain in her voice as she spoke those two words. A sigh escaped his lips as he unconsciously ran his fingers down her arm. He noticed her shiver and quickly retracted his hand, missing the blush that crept over her cheeks. "Sorry, I know I'm cold."

Mother Nature didn't say anything. She couldn't very well tell him that she had actually liked the contact.

"Look, if you tell us what's going on, we can help. We're Guardians, we're here to protect—" He was getting really tired of being interrupted.

"—children, you're here to protect children. I am not a child, Jack, and I don't need protecting. There is nothing going on that I can't handle by myself." Effie stated firmly, though her voice was still raspy.

_Yeah, _Jack thought, taking in her appearance once more, _you look like you're handling it just fine._

"Take your own advice, Ice-cube, and chill. You don't have to concern yourself with me." The nature spirit raised her hands to shoulder level as if in surrender as she took a few steps back from him, purposefully putting distance between them. The young guardian found that he didn't like that. For each step that she took away, he took one closer.

"Hard to be chill when you look like you're about to K.O." He replied.

Effie was feeling some very mixed emotions over his sudden concern for her. On one hand, it sent tingles of warmth careening through her. Though she wasn't the biggest fan of warmth, this felt nice; it had her wanting to cozy up right next to him, and that scared her. She could try to chalk it up to him just being attractive, because she couldn't deny that, but something told her that it wasn't just that. There was more than just a physical attraction there, though she refused to give it any thought. They couldn't have a friendship, she would never forgive herself if any of the Guardians ever came to harm. On the other hand, his concern also made her sick with her own worry. She didn't know what the shadows wanted with her, so she didn't want anyone getting to close in case the shadows saw them as a threat.

"Is that so? Well, that sucks for you, because I'm just fine. My problem, besides you invading my personal space here, is that it's snowing after I spent the entire morning prepping gardens and yards for spring." Green eyes met icy blue as she glared, "Imagine my irritation when I looked up to see little white flakes falling from the sky when the temperatures were supposed to be in the high 40s to low 50s."

Jack smirked, seemingly taking the bait of her subject change. "I promised a couple of kids that I'd give them snow and possibly extend their spring break."

The nature spirit felt her eye twitch. "And no doubt you agreed full heartedly because you knew it would make my life just that much more difficult."

The smirk turned into a grin. "Possibly."

She was going to kill him, or at least she would have if she wasn't thoroughly enjoying wriggling her toes under the now 4 in. deep snow. She would love to just fall back and make a snow angel in it…

She bent down, collecting some snow into her hands, the winter spirit watching her with questioning eyes. He had let her change the subject for now, but he was going to get the information out of her sooner or later. Whether she liked it or not, it did concern him and the other Guardians. But he wasn't going to force it anymore; if the last 300 years had taught him anything, it was that nothing came from trying to force results. So now he watched her as she packed the snow together in her hands. What on Earth was she doing?

In retrospect, he really should've seen it coming. He was the Guardian of Fun and the Spirit of Winter; he should have picked up right away what she was doing. It shouldn't have taken a cold ball of snow being smooshed in his face for him to realize what was happening.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Effie mused. He heard her chuckle a bit before quickly scurrying away, probably heading for safety. He wiped the cold substance off his face, collecting up his own snow ball; she was right, revenge _was_ a dish best served cold. She hadn't gotten far when he finished his snowball (he had made it in 4 seconds flat) and he grinned as he chucked the snowball, pelting her right in the back of her head.

The guilt he felt was immediate as she fell forward into a snowdrift. He cursed as he quickly flew over to her. A smug smirk grew on his face, replacing his previous look of guilt and concern, at what he saw. She was rubbing her face farther into the snow, spreading her arms and legs as she seemed to make a snow angel. A hum of content left the spirit that lie before him and his smirk grew in size. He quietly crouched down next to her, laying his staff across his legs.

"For making such a fuss, you really look like you're enjoying yourself." Jack laughed.

Mother Nature stilled, lifting her head slightly to give him a weak glare. "Shush!" was her only comeback before she dropped her face back into the snow. Jack just continued to laugh in response. Despite the ugly bruises that marred her body, he'd never seen her look so adorable. He instantly pushed the thought away; she might not be the enemy, but she was still a stubborn old hag.

* * *

"_It's brighter. Why is her light brighter? Your attack was weak!"_

"_**My attack was not weak! The sandy one came and interfered, but I still felt her light weaken. I felt it fade as I tore at her mind and body. She was nearly ours before that Guardian stopped me!"**_

"_Then why is her light brighter?"_

"_**It must be the boy!"**_

Two shadows lingered just out of sight among the tree line, watching as the two spirits spoke to one another. They appeared to be arguing, but the shadows still watched closely. The longer the boy was around their Efthalia, the brighter her inner light became. It was still weak, barely there just as it has been for the last few years, but it slowly seemed to be getting brighter. The boy was ruining their hard work.

The shadows shifted between the trees restlessly, panic filling their forms as a sudden burst of unseen warm light seemed to emit from the nature spirit, though it dimmed considerably the next moment, the self-doubt dimming the girl's light once more. Still, the light was a cause for panic. The Dark One would have their heads if they didn't do something about it.

"_Th-that light! We must separate our flower from the boy! He will ruin everything!"_

"_**But what do you expect us to do? His light is too bright for us to touch!"**_

"_Even he has darkness within him somewhere! There is no light without shadow!"_

They shifted their dark gazes back to the two teens. The winter boy was too close to their flower and they appeared to be bickering still, but something else also lingered in the air. The shadows could almost taste it and they cringed. It could not be allowed to continue or all of their work would truly be for naught and the Dark One would _obliterate_ them.

There was another spark of light from Mother Nature, closely followed by a twinge of something dim from the winter spirit. It wasn't exactly dark, but it was dull enough for the shadows to latch on, if only weakly. They wouldn't be able to do the damage that they could do to Efthalia to him, but it did provide them with enough power to, in the very least, stun him.

"_This is our chance!"_

They sprung forth under the snow and into action. They slithered through the shadow that lay beneath the thick layer of snow, making their way over to the spirits. Their pace quickened as the sound of laughter flittered in the air, grabbing onto the pale foot that was buried within the crystallized water. They gave a hard yank, making the boy fall forwards and onto the poor nature spirit.

"Unf!"

The shadows quickly retreated as limbs began flying about, though they still lingered close enough to hear their conversation. The simple attack was nothing but an introduction to what the boy had coming if he did not leave.

"Oi, get off me! Ow! My poor back! What in the world made you think it was okay to jump on a poor defenseless and injured girl?" Effie moaned out in pain as she tried to push the guardian off of her.

"I didn't jump on you! Ouch! Stop hitting me! I fell! Something grabbed my ankle and tripped me. OUCH! I said stop hitting me!" Jack defended, trying desperately to get off of the squirming spirit.

"Then get off me! I'm having trouble breathing here!" she growled in reply.

"Then stop moving so I can actually get up! You are so annoying; you're the idiot who stuck their face in the snow. It's your own fault if you can't breathe!" He huffed.

"I would be just fine if some heavy moron hadn't fallen on top of me!"

"You'd probably be able to breathe if you'd just shut your trap!" He countered.

"I will end you, Frost." She hissed.

A mocking laugh filled the air, "Ha! I'd like to see you try!"

Jack finally scrambled off of the nature spirit, stumbling as he tried to find his footing. He searched the ground around him, poking through the snow with his staff as he looked for whatever had grabbed him. He could have sworn something had grabbed his ankle. Effie slowly and painfully stood as well, rubbing her now very sore back. The shadows watched carefully, preparing for their next attack if they had too.

"You need to learn to keep your balance, Ice-cube." Mother Nature grit out as she tried to straighten herself; it wasn't helping that her whole body had already been sore to begin with.

"I told you, something grabbed and tripped me!" The guardian replied, his eyes still searching the surrounding area.

"Like what? There is no one out here that can even see us!" She motioned to the few adults scattered about the park as they hurried through, not wearing the proper attire for the sudden weather change.

"I don't know! But something did grab me!" Jack insisted, finally bringing his gaze to meet hers.

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Maybe you just tripped on a tree root, but nothing grabbed you. There is nothing out here that could."

The winter spirit growled in frustration. He knew something had grabbed him, he wasn't imagining this! "What tree root?! We're in the middle of a field! Something grabbed me!"

"Then you just lost your damn balance, but I'm telling you, there is nothing that could have grabbed you!"

That was when she saw them. The shadows felt her light flicker and dim as her gaze fell upon them. They had slipped closer, preparing for their next attack when she had spotted them under a thin layer of snow. The winter boy still remained unaware of their presence though, and they knew their flower wouldn't alert him of their company. They stopped their advancement; there was no need to attack now.

"I know what I felt! Something grabbed onto my ankle and yanked it so I would fall!" Jack argued.

Effie's mouth went dry as it clicked into place in her head. The shadows had attacked him. She had to get out of there and quickly. She forced herself to remain calm as she looked at the winter guardian. "Whatever, if you say something grabbed you, then I guess something grabbed you." She took a step back towards the tree line. "Seeing as I'm too damn tired to clean up your snowy mess, I'm off to other places. Don't think for a moment that I'm going to let this snow storm go."

Jack made to grab her arm, and the shadows prepared to dart forward, but Effie was quicker as she got just out of reach of the winter spirit. She headed towards the tree line, her movements quicker than they had been before and limping a lot less.

He watched her leave, unsure of what he should do. He didn't really want her to leave…he had even been starting to think that he would like to introduce her to Jamie. He watched her grab onto a tree before she finally disappeared and he found his voice.

"What the f—"

"Jack! You came!" Jamie's voice called out.

The winter spirit spared one more glance towards where the nature spirit had disappeared before he plastered a smile back on his faced and spun to face the little boy. "Of course I did! Did you doubt that I would?"

Jamie laughed, his friends running up behind him, and a snowball fight was started, but Jack still found himself thinking of Mother Nature and whatever had grabbed him. There was something really amiss here, and it wasn't settling well in his stomach.

* * *

**I know I said less than a week, but a lot of things have happened recently. I had to put my cat down a few days ago and I've had to clean for a family party that's coming up soon, and I have also had some pretty bad writer's block. I had this whole chapter planned out, but then I didn't know how to start it or how to write what I wanted to write. Well, tell me what you think: whether you like it, what I should improve, general thoughts and suggestions, the likes. Happy New Year! Ciao!**

**~CeeCee-chi**


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

Footsteps echoed off the walls and floors of the crumbling abandoned underground palace. They had recovered it from the rubble that was left from the destruction of Pitch. Deep within, the shadows squirmed with agonizing anxiety as their leader paced. His impatience was growing tremendously. A hundred years and she still was not theirs, not _his_! A small shred of light kept her from fully becoming his. Their attacks were too weak; that last shred of light clung to her no matter what they did. Where could that light be coming from?! Her spirit should've been shattered by now!

The Dark One halted his pacing, turning abruptly to where the shadows lurked. He stalked towards them, grabbing onto one of the lesser shadows in his frustration, his grip tightening until a shrill squeaking sound erupted from the poor formless shadow, filling the dark empty halls with a dark chill. He squeezed until the sound stopped and the shadow dissipated into smoke. The rest of the shadows continued their anxious movements, becoming smaller as fear swept through their formless bodies.

He brought his arm back to his side as he resumed his pacing. His anger and frustration only grew as his thoughts were drawn to the Guardians. They were proving to be a threat to his plans yet again. Their presence around his dear flower was restoring a light in her that shouldn't be there. They strengthened that last shred of light in her, brightened it as they tried to get closer to her. She tried to keep her distance from them, the shadows keeping her separated, but somehow they still brightened her light. Those damned Guardians were ruining all of the work he and his shadows had put in to gain control over the nature spirit.

Angry pivot after angry pivot, he paced continuously as he thought. That last shred of light was what was really at fault. Its existence was proving to be harder to destroy than it should've been. He broke from his pacing again and grabbed another of the lesser shadows, squeezing and obliterating it before it even had a chance to squeal.

"Why does the light linger?!" He shouted out in his silky, dark voice. He turned to his subjects, his silver eyes glinting with a dangerous light. "It must be the fault of you weaklings! Your attacks are weak,_misellus_! Tell me why I do not have my flower! How have you not completely destroyed her light?!"

The shadows drew back from their master. The anger radiated off of him in waves as he seethed, evoking further fear in their constant shifting forms.

"She should be ours! But that light clings to her! I gave you the task of extinguishing her light. I ordered you to keep her away from the guardians! You are all _nequam_!" The shadows drew back further, though another of the lesser shadows fell victim to their leader's anger, unable to escape in time. The Dark One's power seeped out, inflicting pain onto the shadows and evoking delicious fear from them. They let out little whimpers, their pain and fear feeding his hunger. A slight and dark smile came to his lips as he watched their formless masses cringe in anguish, but the smile soon vanished as one shadow meekly came forward.

'**_Perhaps it is she that is clinging to the light…'_** the shadows weakly offered. The others shifted restlessly, silently bidding the foolish creature goodbye.

"Just what is that supposed to mean, _stultus_? Do you wish to be obliterated as well, or are you hoping to make some sense of your senseless comment?" The Dark One growled, stalking towards the small quivering creature.

The shadow shifted away in fear, but offered more in explanation. **_'Perhaps she does not know she clings to the light. She might cling to a small hope or dream without knowing she does so…'_**

Their master stopped, becoming silent as he thought over what his subject had suggested. It was a possibility. His flower had proved to contain a stubborn streak a mile long; it was possible that she clung to a shred of something that kept her from falling completely into shadow. This would be remedied, though. He would cut her life line and she would be his at last.

"It would appear, then, that we must step up our game before the Guardians destroy all of our work. We will crush whatever hope and light that lingers in her. She will be ours."

He dusted away invisible dust, flashing his dangerous gaze towards the anxious shadows. "The first task I have for you is to find what she clings to. Do not mess this up, or it will be the last mistake you ever make."

He would not let his pawn fall into the hands of those Guardians. She was his.

* * *

The fire crackled in the fireplace as North took a sip from his eggnog. He watched with a heavy heart as Sandy recapped the incident with the shadow. Things had gotten bad for Effie, and they were only going to get worse, he could feel it in his belly. He didn't know what he was supposed to do though; the globe was showing no signs of a threat towards the children, and he had promised the girl that they would wait until she asked for help.

The big man heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head towards his stout companion. There was nothing they could do at the moment if he was to honor the promise. He ran a hand down his beard as a chain of unhappy signs flashed over the dream guardian's head. He was clearly displeased with the bigger man's response. _She needs help!_

"I know, Sandy, but vhat can ve do? She is not guardian and she refuse help." North stated, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He felt like he was between a wall and a hard place.

Sandy was unsatisfied with his answer, blowing sand from his ears as he floated to be eye level with the Russian Santa. _The Man in the Moon chose her and put her into our charge. She is too stubborn to see she needs help. Do not give her the choice or it might be too late!_

Another sigh came from the bigger man. "You know zat von't vork. She doesn't vant us involved. She says it's her problem and she vill handle it by herself. It vill do more harm than good if ve force our help onto her."

_Why? She can't handle it by herself. The shadow that attacked her left her in horrible shape._

"And she did not let you help, am I correct? You suggest to bring her here and she turn you down, no?"

The dream guardian begrudgingly nodded.

"So you know she does not vish for us to help her and is stubborn."

_But why? We won't harm her._

"I don't think it has anything to do viz us harming her. I think she means to protect, but perhaps she does not vish to appear veak." North didn't know the real reason; he could only make guesses as to why Effie would not let the Guardians help her from what little he knew of her. He knew that she was brave and caring, but he also knew she was stubborn. "She pushes us avay every time ve attempt to help to either protect us or her image."

Sandy considered the words his companion had shared, but it still wasn't good enough. His face was firm as he looked the Claus straight in the eye. _We need to do something, whether she likes it or not. We need to protect her._

North remained silent for a few moments, looking straight back into the stout man's golden eyes. Sandy was right and he knew it. Finally he nodded.

"You are right. Tomorrow I call rest of Guardians and ve formulate plan! I vill have to break my promise to her for her safety."

Sandy smiled and gave a firm nod of his head, both relieved and glad that the Russian man had finally seen his point. They were going to help Effie before it was too late, whatever too late meant. They still didn't know what the actual problem was; they only knew that it was getting worse.

* * *

Bunnymund knew Jack was back; he could feel the chill in the air that followed the boy everywhere. The kid couldn't have chosen a worse time to come bother him. The Pooka was in the middle of planting the new Egg Flowers for preparation of next Easter. The flowers were highly sensitive before being planted and would wilt if the temperature wasn't absolutely perfect. Why the bloody show pony always had to come to him when there were three other perfectly capable guardians was beyond him, but since he had come, whatever the kid had to say better be good.

The winter guardian landed beside the Pooka only moments later, accompanied by a chilling breeze that forced Bunny to shield his flowers. Jack didn't even bother with a greeting before he jumped right into what was bothering him, ignoring the dirty look that the rabbit shot his way.

"Effie is a pain in the ass."

The rabbit rolled his eyes as he placed a flower in the ground. Great. He was going to have to hear about another lover's quarrel (Ha! As if Effie would even give Jack the time of day!).

"If anyone is, mate, it's you." Bunny muttered, digging another hole.

Either Jack didn't hear the comment, or he chose to ignore it, because he just kept going like the rabbit hadn't said anything. The Pooka let out a quiet sigh as he continued planting the flowers, trying to get them into the ground before they ended up frozen. From the way Jack was pacing, he could tell that the bugger was going to be there for a while. Nothing like a winter spirit to gum up the works.

"I just don't get her! One moment she's perfectly fine and we're getting along. The next moment she's acting all weird like she's hiding something and trying to run away." The young guardian ran a hand through his hair. "She is so temperamental and annoying!"

"Perhaps if ya weren't always being a bloody arse…" Once again Bunny's snarky comment was ignored.

"I don't get why she acts like that. I haven't done anything to her recently!" Expect for accusing her of being in league with Pitch and causing a snow storm in Burgess; not that any of those were much of a big deal though.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe, Mate." The pooka mumbled absentmindedly.

"And I know she's hiding something! She was all battered and bruised yesterday but she wouldn't tell me what happened—"

Bunny's ears straightened and twitched at the mention of the sheila being hurt. He placed down his gardening tools and turned to face the boy, giving him his full attention.

"What do you mean, battered and bruised?" The Pooka asked.

Jack ran a hand through his hair again, a strange look in his eye. To the rabbit, it sort of looked like concern for the nature spirit. It seemed to Bunny that the winter spirit was really starting to take a liking to the girl. He just hadn't noticed it himself yet.

"I mean she was battered and bruised. She was covered in these huge dark green and brown bruises and there was this big gash going down her leg. She looked like she'd been in a fight, but she kept refusing to tell me what happened. She told me it had nothing to do with me. What a load of bull that is—" Jack was cut off again.

"Blimey, why didn't ya tell me this sooner? Did ya think to tell anyone else about this? We need ta tell North if Sheila is really as hurt as you say she was." Bunnymund hopped up, quickly stashing his tools away; they had a habit of disappearing if he didn't. His mind was set on getting to the North Pole as quick as possible, not noticing the annoyed look that the younger guardian was giving him.

"What good will it do to tell North? He didn't do anything when I told him about the shadow, what makes you think he will do anything about this?" Jack asked, annoyed. He agreed that it was a concerning matter, but the shadow had been as well. Besides, despite all of her injuries, she'd been fine enough to squish a snowball in his face.

"Bloody hell. Seriously, Frostbite? This is more serious than yer shadow delusions."

The young spirit ground his teeth as he glared. "Not when the shadow is the cause of the injury."

"Are you saying that the shadow hurt her? I thought you said that she didn't tell you what happened."

"She didn't. But I know that the shadow was the culprit! It wasn't just any old shadow, I know it. The shadow had something to do with her injuries! If you would all just listen to –" Jack was cut off by a paw covering his mouth. He sent the Pooka a questioning look, getting the universal sign to be quiet in return and removed his paw. Bunny's ears twitched back and forth as he sniffed the air. Someone or something had intruded on his Warren, someone who didn't belong there. The winter guardian let his gaze scan over the surrounding area as well.

The rabbit focused his gaze back on his young companion, signaling to him that they should split up and search for whoever had entered the Warren. Jack gave a silent nod, his grip tightening on his staff as he took an offensive stance and started searching in the opposite direction the Easter Bunny had headed. Both of them had weapons posed for attack as they moved stealthily in search of the intruder.

The hair on the winter spirit's skin stood on edge as his eyes scanned the area around him as he went. Sometimes he really hated Bunny's domain. The place had so many hiding spots and the shadows from the dark tunnels could be really creepy at times. Something could hop out at him at any moment and would have never seen it coming! At least there weren't little eggs running around making noise; that would seriously make him jumpy, jumpier than he was already feeling.

The eerie silence was broken as a pained groan lifted into the air. Jack's heart skipped a beat as he whirled around toward the direction it had come from. The sound was close, meaning the intruder was around there somewhere. He shifted his grip on his staff as he crept closer, poising to attack. There was another groan and a rustling of grass. He quickened his pace; it'd be best if he could catch the intruder while he was down.

"Where the hell am I? This is not my Sanctuary…"

Jack nearly tripped, startled by the voice. He knew that voice and he hadn't been expecting to hear it here. The white haired teen lowered his staff and hopped over the big rock that separated them. Blue eyes fell onto the fallen red-head, who was lying on the ground, rubbing her hear as she stared up at the branches of a small tree. He stared in shock as green eyes shifted to look into his. He wasn't sure who what he was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn't her.

* * *

**I am sooooooooo very sorry for how long this took me to write and I am very _very _sorry for how short it is. I've had writer's block and the new semester started. Nineteen full credit hours of work and pain; I seriously bit off more than I can chew. But I will not be giving up on this story, be assured of that. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter though; I wrote out what Sandy was saying instead of trying to come up with random signs for him to form (I assumed North knows what Sandman is saying since the big guy seems to be the leader, ya know?). I might rewrite it later, maybe not. Tell me your thoughts, etc. Have a great day!**

**Translations: (Latin) misellus = pathetic, stultus = stupid, nequam = worthless**

**~CeeCee-chi**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm a bad person. I made you guys wait way too long again. **** I'm sorry!**

* * *

_Chapter Ten_

Burgess was still completely covered in snow and Effie'd had just about enough of it. That white stuff was everywhere and she just couldn't get it to melt! Earth wouldn't let her raise the temperature so she _could_ melt the snow, and it certainly _wasn't_ helping that she couldn't even focus long enough because her mind would continuously wander towards thoughts of the snowy haired teen; the devil reincarnate! The hours had ticked by and she had accomplished nothing!

The red-head groaned in frustration as she kicked and clawed at the snow, gaining very little satisfaction from it. She had spent her whole day here when she could have gone somewhere else to help the plant growth and animals there. Being stuck here had done no good what-so-ever. She was tired, she was sore, and she was grumpy. She just wanted to give up and say screw it, but no. If she did that, all the work she'd put into this city would have been for naught (though technically it had been for naught the moment Jack made it snow).

_Damn you, Jack Frost!_

She was going to kill him the next time she saw him, in the most slow and agonizingly painful way possible. She would wrap her fingers around his slender neck and she would enjoy watching the light leave his beautiful blue eyes…and his soft pale lips that hid his beautiful white teeth would become even paler – could they get paler? Would they get warmer or colder? Were they as soft as they looked…did they taste like fresh snow…?

The nature spirit shook herself out of her daze, glazed eyes coming back to life as her face darkened with her blush. Her thoughts were going down a dangerous road again (they had been the entire day); she refused to let herself think about kissing him, no matter how nice his smile was or how amazing his eyes were…no! Those thoughts were not allowed, not ever!

Then again, what was the harm in a little daydreaming…? The blush reappeared and her heart raced with just the contemplation of daydreaming about running her hands through his soft, white hair... Cue the paranoia, the stupid and unrealistic paranoia that he could and would somehow read her mind and figure out just what was going through her head. If he knew he would hold it over her forever! She would never hear the end of it and she would never be able to look him in the eye again.

Effie knelt and shoved her hands into a snow drift, hoping the cold would clear her head. It did nothing of the sort. Instead, it seemed to send electric shocks up her arms and down her spine, making her shiver in a strange way. She broke into a cold sweat as her blush deepened and her thoughts centered back on the annoying white haired boy, on his hair, on his eyes, his smile…

GAH!

She pushed herself head first into the snow (which still wasn't melting), squeezing her eyes shut and trying to block out all thoughts of Jack. She laid there, head buried in the snow, refusing to let herself believe what she knew. She really wouldn't be able to look him in the eye ever again if she faced the truth, and she just couldn't give up those beautiful eyes...

No. No. No. NO! She couldn't think that way, she couldn't get attached. It would only put him in danger and get her hurt. Admitting his attractiveness was one thing, admitting that she was attracted was completely different.

The nature spirit let out a sigh as she rolled over onto her back, staring up at the darkening sky. This was annoying. Constantly having to keep herself at a distance to protect both herself and others; it used to just be herself that she was worried about, she didn't want to be hurt again by being abandoned and forgotten. Then the shadows started lurking about. She felt the need to protect the others around her from them, and her desire to protect was the only thing that kept her going anymore.

It didn't stop her, though, from wishing that she could get to know the guardians…get to know Jack. She was curious; what made them tick? What were their pet peeves? What were they like before they were, well, them? She wanted to know.

A snap of a twig broke her from her reverie as she shot up. Looking around she saw a small rabbit darting across the snowy field as an adult quickly shuffled across the park, probably having been the one to step on the twig. It was then that the red-head noticed just how dark it was getting. She needed to find shelter soon. She had just recently recovered from the last attack; she couldn't face another one just yet. She knew she needed to get a move on, but the cool caress of the snow felt amazing and she was tired. She didn't want to move anymore. Besides, they wouldn't really attack her again so soon, would they?

What the hell was she thinking? Of course they would.

Effie pushed herself up slowly, enjoying the last traces of light before the sun would disappear completely behind the horizon. She wriggled her toes under the snow as she brushed the stuff from her green sundress (she still hadn't gotten around to mending her tunic and leggings). Looking at the sky she decided she had about five minutes to get herself to her home. It was plenty of time.

"Efthalia"

She had less time than she thought. The whisper curled around her as her heart beat sped up in pace. They had made sure to come at a time where no one would be able to come help her; it was too early for Sandy to show up with his dream sand and too early for the tooth fairies to show up for teeth collecting. She was alone here.

The nature spirit scanned over the surrounding area but she couldn't see anything. She noticed the long shadows the snowdrifts were casting across the white landscape. The once inviting looking piles of snow now looked threatening in their offer of hiding places for the shadows. The shadows could be hiding anywhere in the dark castings or anywhere under the snow. _Thanks_ Jack, she thought bitterly. She had no idea which direction they were coming from. Her stomach churned as her green eyes landed on the closest tree. It was a good 20 feet away; she might be able to make it if she knew where the shadows were.

"Oh, Efthalia," the shadows cooed. Their voices were getting closer but she still couldn't tell where they were. Her eyes flickered quickly from left to right, trying to find them, but it was still to no avail. Her heart rate was breaking records again and she was breaking into a sweat as she trained her sights back on the tree. She was gonna make a run for it.

"You can't run from us, flower."

They were right behind her and coming up fast. Effie pushed herself to go faster, but the snow underfoot kept shifting. She kept slipping and stumbling but not once did she stop moving. The distance between her and the tree was shrinking, just a few more feet and she'd reach safety (assuming the shadows wouldn't somehow find a way into her Sanctuary again).

The shadows casted by the trees seemed to stretch and loom towards her, providing no sense of safety. The trees that were once her friends now seemed like enemies, but still, she pushed on. It wasn't the trees that were dangerous, she reminded herself, it was their shadows. She just had to get passed the shadows.

"You're a coward for running! We will catch you!"

The red-head grunted as one of them slithered right by her foot. "Not this time you won't," she said defiantly. The tree was just within reach now. She leapt for it just as the nearest shadow made to grab for her. It missed by less than an inch as she fazed into the tree and away from the city of Burgess.

She felt confined and out of control as she traveled through the many intertwined roots. It was a disconcerting feeling, like someone else was controlling her movement. She pushed and felt around with whatever power she could muster, but there was no one else with her. She tried chalking it up to paranoia and tried to ignore it until she was unexpectedly shot out of a tree.

The nature spirit came out of the tree back first, stumbling with the awkward arrival. There was a step down in the uneven ground and her eyes widened as she lost her footing. She fell backwards and landed rather painfully on the hard ground, the back of her head making contact with a very hard rock. Effie laid there dazed and sore as she stared blankly up at a stone ceiling. This was just not her week.

Slowly her mental processes started coming back to her. She let out a pained groan and blinked a few times to clear her eye sight. She shifted a little, trying to sit herself up, only to fall back again and give another pained groan. She was getting really tired of constantly getting injured. The idea of having a bodyguard was becoming very tempting…maybe she should take up North's offer of help. Maybe he would make Jack her bodyguard…

She blinked again as she noticed she was staring at a stone ceiling. "Where the hell am I? This is not my Sanctuary…"

She reached up rubbed her head as she shifted her gaze to the small tree that she had just basically sling-shotted out of. She knew it wasn't the tree's fault for her painful fall, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of resentment towards the plant anyhow.

There was a bit of movement from the corner of her eye, drawing her gaze away from the tree. Green eyes made contact with shocked icy blue ones. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting to see him here…wherever she was. Was this his home? It was rather green and warm for a winter spirit; she'd expected his place to be covered in ice and snow or something, but hey. Who was she to decide what a winter spirit's home should look like?

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

Effie broke the eye contact and rested her gaze on the high ceiling again. She would have shrugged if every little movement didn't feel like liquid fire. "That's a great question, Ice-cube. I'd put my money on this being a bad dream, but seeing as this whole experience has been so painful, I'm gonna say that I'm awake and completely lost." She took a moment to admire her response. Pretty darn coherent and, dare she say, witty for her current state.

Jack just continued to stare at her. She looked much better than she had yesterday; he couldn't find any traces of the bruises or cuts, though she did look like she was still in pain. That could have something do with her current position though…should he be getting her help? Probably.

"Where am I, by the way?" the red-head asked.

The winter spirit blinked. "You're in Bunny's Warren."

The nature spirit gave a bemused laugh and an ironic smile; of course that would be where she landed. Her first visit to the magnificent land of Easter and she's too incapacitated to explore. Just her luck.

Silence settled around them again and Jack was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. Effie was sprawled out on the ground and the hem of her dress was hiked up a little high for comfort. He was trying to be a gentleman and keep his eyes on her face, but it was proving to be very difficult. Her legs from the mid-thigh down were exposed, and without the cuts and bruises marring the skin, they were rather attractive.

From her position on the ground, the red-head shifted her gaze back to the snowy haired teen, enjoying the view that she got from this angle (she was too out of it to notice that he was looking at her too). She could see just a sliver of his pale skin of his stomach; if he moved just a little bit closer she would be able to fully look up his hoodie…

Jack's voice broke her out of her silent reverie (she wasn't there enough still to actually blush though) and her gaze met with his again. "So…you don't know why you're here?"

"Not one clue. Moon Man probably has something to do with it, though," A short pause, "Can you, I dunno, help me up? I sort of hit my head and can't move real well." Speaking of which, a few of her extremities were beginning to go numb. She was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing.

Jack gave a stiff nod and stepped forward to help her up. He held his hand out for her, which she weakly lifted her own to take, and he pulled her up. She stumbled forward and fell into his chest. He instantly stilled, barely breathing as she righted herself. Even with his shallow, nearly non-existent breaths, the scent of spring wafted into his nose. She truly did smell breathtaking. It was the scent of life renewing, the smell of his snow melting away to make way for growing flowers. To put it simply, he loved the smell because he could never contain it himself. Spring smelled like life and winter…did not.

"Thank-you" Effie mumbled, brushing herself off. It had been brief, but she had gotten a whiff of his natural scent. He smelled like freshly fallen snow, crisp and clean. She usually loved the smell but she had spent the entire day trying to get it to go away. The scent was irritating her more than anything at the moment. Which reminded her…

The winter spirit let out a grunt as he was jabbed in the chest. _What the hell?_ He thought as he rubbed the now tender spot. What did he do to deserve that?

"I'm not happy with you!"

No, really? He hadn't noticed. Jack narrowed his eyes, waiting for her to continue. Did he not help her up in just the right way? Was she seriously going to be that shrill?

"I have half a mind to beat you with your own stick!"

"Staff, it's a staff," he corrected. She just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever! I just spent the entire day in Burgess trying to clean up _your_ mess," oh…well that explains her displeasure with him… "And it looks like I haven't done anything! That stupid snowy mess is still there."

The snowy haired teen was trying really hard not to smirk and wisely kept his mouth shut. He hadn't done anything to keep the snow from melting, but it amused him to know that she was having so much trouble getting rid of his snowy masterpiece (truly, he was mischievous to the very end). He wondered briefly if Jamie had played in the snow today as well.

"And don't you dare pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about [not that he was]." She said, pushing hair out of her face as she paced back and forth in irritation (she was starting to feel back to normal again, even if her head did still hurt a little). "Who would have even thought snow drifts could cast such long shadows?!"

Jack quirked an eyebrow, unsure of where she was going with that last statement. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts now as she continued her pacing. What was going through her head?

"You provided them with so many hiding places, it isn't even funny! I couldn't see them, didn't know where they were coming from. They were under the snow, hiding in the shadows of the snow drifts, and no doubt hiding in the shadows of the trees."

Now he was really lost. "What are you talking about?"

Effie snapped around in neck-breaking speed, staring him down with wide eyes. He could swear he saw fear in them. Fear wasn't something that he was accustomed to seeing there…

"The shadows, you nimrod! They were about to attack me again!"

Jack's mouth went dry. "W-what?"

"They showed up before night fall, which shouldn't have surprised me, and were going to attack me again. Gods, I can't take another attack like the last one. And I almost didn't get away," She jabbed him in the chest again, "because of your stupid snow storm yesterday. I was slipping and tripping all over your wintery mess trying to get away from them!"

The winter spirit was stunned. So he had been right about the shadow. He had been right in thinking that it had attacked her. Something inside him roared to life, it growled with anger at the notion that those shadows had tried to hurt her again.

Effie pulled at her hair and crouched down. Jack didn't quite know what to do. He wanted to comfort her, but he also wanted to tear those shadows to pieces. He'd never seen her this way before and he certainly hadn't expected her to come clean about the attacks. This was what he wanted, he wanted her to admit that there was something going on, but now that she actually had, he was lost. He felt useless, almost as useless as when Sandy was killed. What had even prompted her to spill all of this out in the first place?

"I can't do this anymore. I'm stupid for thinking I ever could. I don't have the strength to fight them anymore. I…I need help."

"All ya had to do was ask, Sheila. We're more than willin' to help."

Jack jumped at the sound of Bunny's voice. He hadn't noticed the pooka come up beside him. The rabbit crouched down next to the red-head, placing a comforting paw on her knee. "We'll keep ya safe."

* * *

Effie was huddled in a corner cursing herself silently as the guardians discussed _her_. What had she been doing trying to keep them at a distance for? Oh yeah, that's right, she didn't want them involved! And now they were collected together, discussing what they were going to do with her, and completely and utterly involved. All because of a silly moment of weakness.

And there was no going back now. They were involved whether she liked it or not.

She pushed her hair out of her face, keeping her eyes trained on the guardians. She didn't like how they were talking like she wasn't there, only including her in the conversation when they were confirming something that she had already told them. It was uncomfortable sitting there silently, waiting for them to finally figure out what they were going to do with her.

"You are entirely sure you don't know vhat zey vant vith you?" North asked again, stroking his beard as he turned to the nature spirit.

"Yes. I have no idea what they want from me!" She stated again. "But I'm sure, through process of elimination, you'll be able to figure it out. Let me start. I'm pretty sure they don't want me to have their children."

The snide remark wasn't necessary, she knew that, but she was rather irate at the moment and she really didn't give a damn. She seemed to have a tendency to lash out when she was uncomfortable.

"Don't ya get snippy with us, Sheila! Yer the one who asked for help!" Bunnymund snipped back.

The red-head rolled her eyes and turned her head away, resting it on her arms. Some help this turned out to be. She just wanted to leave; it was stupid of her to have asked for help. She had places she needed to be, like Burgess. She still needed to clean up Frost's mess!

North continued talking like her remark had been serious. "Yea, I suppose ve can assume zey don't vant you to have zere children. Hmm…" He stroked his beard and paced around the room.

"What could they possibly want with her, North? They've been after her for a hundred years now; she's got to have something that they really want. But what? She's not a guardian, she has no direct contact with humans and her powers have severely faded in the last 400 years. What could she have that they want?" Tooth inquired, more so trying to organize the information out loud than form an actual question.

_Thanks, Miss Toothfairy,_ Effie thought bitterly, _why don't you go ahead and call me completely worthless while you're at it?_

"Maybe zey are not after children or humans at all."

Sandy tilted his head and a question mark formed over his head.

"Are ya implying that perhaps they want to use her against us? She ain't exactly close to us, either. I don't see why they would want her." Bunny chipped in.

This felt completely degrading. Just because she wasn't in direct contact with anyone didn't mean that she was useless, and even though her powers have severely faded due to lack of belief, it wasn't like they weren't there at all. She was still powerful enough to hold her own against the shadows this long. It wasn't like they were purposefully taking shots at her ego, but still, couldn't they at least find one useful aspect about her? There had to be plenty usefulness in her.

The temperature around her dropped about ten degrees, signaling the approach of a certain guardian. She lifted her gaze from the floor, meeting his icy blue gaze as he offered her an awkward smile. She assumed it was supposed to be comforting, and it sort of worked since she thought it was cute.

Jack leaned his staff up against the wall and sat next to her. He could tell she wasn't feeling very comfortable, and he couldn't blame her. The other four guardians weren't exactly making this easier for her. They were more focused on what the shadows wanted with her rather trying to figure out how they were going to protect her. In his opinion, they should be figuring out how to protect her first, and then they could figure out why they wanted her and what they were going to do about that.

"You have any special abilities that we don't know of?" He asked. The other guardians were too absorbed in their conversation to notice that he had moved and was talking to her; it was very important that they kept reiterating how useless she was after all.

"Well, aside from making plants grow, having a bond with animals and having minimal control over the weather, no, I don't have any special abilities." The nature spirit replied sarcastically.

Her tone was full of bitterness. Honestly, he would be bitter in her position too.

"You forgot about your incredible sense of sarcasm."

Effie cracked a smile at that. "I don't think the shadows would find much use in that."

"No, probably not, but it got you to smile."

A small blush crept over her cheeks as she broke eye contact. She hadn't heard something that sweet in a very long time, if ever. "I forgot I was talking to the Guardian of Fun."

"I would've started a snow ball fight to break the tension in here, but the last time I did that North didn't let me back in for a month."

Her eyes widened with mock surprise. "Really? I can't see why. You poor, poor Ice-cube."

He smirked and quirked an eyebrow. "Your sympathy overwhelms me."

Their attention was drawn to the other four guardians as Bunny spoke a little louder. "I have an idea! Sheila can control the weather, right? Perhaps that's why they want her. They could use her to bring in clouds since they use the dark to move around."

It was a fairly decent theory. The only problem was that, as she had stated before, she only had minimal control over the weather. She could only really hold control of it for about 15 to 30 minutes at a time. This was the perfect time to speak up and tell them so, but she felt like that would admit just how useless she really was and then they would spend another half hour trying to find something useful about her. Better to just keep it to herself at this point.

"Zat is very good theory! Now ve must decide how to protect her."

Effie was seriously starting to get the feeling that they never explicitly acted as bodyguards for someone before because they hadn't even asked her if the theory was viable and they had spent way too long getting to the actual part where they decide how to protect her. She was going to have to bring some serious organization to these people when…if she joined. She still didn't think she was fit for the job; her current job didn't really deal with children.

"Do you think we should take turns guarding her? She could spend a week with me, and then a week with Bunny and so on." Tooth suggested.

That wasn't going to work, and the nature spirit was about to say so, but it seemed that Sandy got to it first because Tooth sighed and nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right. Her job is too important for us to have her neglect it. You could watch over her, couldn't you Bunny?"

"I wish I could, but I need to prepare the Warren for next Easter," answered the Pooka.

"You have plenty time for Easter, zis be more important matter."

The giant rabbit flared up, glaring daggers at the Russian man. "What part of perishables do ya never understand? Tha egg flowers will wilt if I don't put them in this week. How 'bout you watch the sheila? Ya've got plenty of time before Christmas!"

North chuckled as if Bunny's comment was some sort of joke. "Christmas is no Easter; Christmas requires much more work." (Their holiday rivalry was still going strong).

"Why you bloody—"

"Boys! You're getting off topic!" Tooth interjected.

"He started it!" The pooka cried defensively.

Effie let out a quiet sigh as she watched them debate further on what they were going to do with her. This was doing wonders for her self-esteem. It seemed that no one wanted to take time out of their busy schedules to protect her unless they could do it while also doing their own jobs, which meant that she couldn't do her own. If she wasn't regretting asking for help before, she was certainly regretting it now. They were never going to come to a conclusion. Perhaps she should just tell them that she didn't need the help after all.

Jack watched her hunch over a little bit more from the corner of his eye. He loved his fellow guardians, but sometimes they were really dense. In the three hours they had been sitting here, not only had they made Mother Nature feel completely useless, they had managed to make her feel like a burden as well, when they were the ones to offer up helping her in the first place. It was like the Sophie incident all over again.

With one last glance at her, he made his decision. This was the perfect moment to redeem how useless he was earlier.

"I can do it."

The guardians became quiet and all eyes landed on the white haired spirit, including Effie's. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm in a neutral season so I have time to follow her around."

The guardians muttered their approval while North declared that Jack was to be her bodyguard until they could formulate a plan to take care of the shadows, but the red-head stayed crouched in the corner, her skeptical gaze still trained on the winter spirit. He noticed and gave her a grin. Her heart skipped a beat but she refused to avert her gaze; she was still paranoid that he would catch on to what was going through her head. Casting that aside, she thought over his reason for offering to help. She knew for a fact that several places in the world were still getting snow at this time of the year…

"What? I promise it'll be fun!"

* * *

**I am so sorry in how long this took me to write. I wanted to get this out a lot sooner, but I hit this really back rut in which I had absolutely no inspiration to write anything, not even my school papers! On the plus side, I have less than a month before I get out for the summer! Updates should be more often then. I haven't been completely idle though. In my spare time between papers and classes, I have been editing the previous chapters, filling in plot holes and grammar mistakes and such (mostly trying to fix things in hope of gaining inspiration to write this chapter). Well, I'm done babbling. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Tell me what you think!**

**~CeeCee-chi**


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